. Our native songsters . ecies, that theyare little birds which sin^ like angels, yet, wemust confess to liking well tlie song of the greattitmouse; while all will admit, that to the active,restless family of tits, we owe somewhat of thecheerfulness of the woods in spring. Most merry,busy, courageous little birds are these, and thesong of the Greater Titmouse,* or Ox-eye {Parusmajor), is assuredly not without some music in it,though little varied, and it has a cry composed ofnotes so harsh and gi*ating, that they have beencompared to the shaq^ening of a saw, and obtained * The Great Tit is nea
. Our native songsters . ecies, that theyare little birds which sin^ like angels, yet, wemust confess to liking well tlie song of the greattitmouse; while all will admit, that to the active,restless family of tits, we owe somewhat of thecheerfulness of the woods in spring. Most merry,busy, courageous little birds are these, and thesong of the Greater Titmouse,* or Ox-eye {Parusmajor), is assuredly not without some music in it,though little varied, and it has a cry composed ofnotes so harsh and gi*ating, that they have beencompared to the shaq^ening of a saw, and obtained * The Great Tit is nearly six inches in length. The headblack ; the back and shoulders greenish-ash; the rump and smallwing-coverts bluish grey; the rest of the wing dark bluish greyedged with white; tail bluish-black; a spot on the nape, and alarge one on each side of the neck white ; under parts dull yel-low, with a stripe of black along the middle of the beUy, whichwidens on the throat and joins the black of the head; beakblack; feet THE TITMOUSE. 211 for it in France the name of Le Serrurier. It is oneof our earliest builders in spring, placing its nestin some hole where wind and rain cannot reach it,yet making it nicely of moss, and lining it withhair and feathers. The nest contains from sixto nine eggs, with a white ground, speckled andspotted with red. The usual food of the birdconsists of insects, and one may be amused bywatching the address w^ith which the titmice gene-rally will clear the trees of this tribe. Theymay be seen peering into the crevices of theboughs, going on from one to another, and sus-pending themselves in all manner of attitudes,till suddenly they espy some traces of will then seize with the greatest vigour thebuds where these lie concealed, and tear themquickly to pieces. Yet let not the owner of thetree blame the birds. Those buds would neverhave come forth into healthy shoots, for a wormlying at the core had destroyed their vitality,and was still th
Size: 1240px × 2015px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1853
