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In Italy

A MALTESE WELCOME.

They look for thee,

And the isles that wait Sicilia round;

By the Rhine, the Rhone,
And swift Garonne,

Are watchers for thy coming found;
And far thy wing
Goes journeying,

O'er Suabian forests all of pine;
And thou dost speed

Where Dane and Swede
May list that noisy chant of thine.

When blossoms fair

The green boughs bear,

Of almond and of orange trees,
Thou crossest o'er

From Afric's shore,

To revel and to sport 'mid these;
And here again

Thou com'st, when grain

Is ripe, and clusters load the vine;
When, glistening green,

Arc olives seen,

And laden boughs to earth incline.

We never sing
Spring's welcoming,

But thou dost chant a pran strong;
In grove and dell

Thy loud notes swell

The harvest and the vintage song;
Oh! tarry here

The livelong year,

Wing not thy flight across the sea.
Why shouldst thou roam

From this fair home,

Where joy and plenty wait on thee?

TITS AND SHRIKES:-THE OX-EYE, BLUE, COAL, CRESTED, MARSH, BEARDED, AND LONGTAILED TITS-THE COMMON, RED-BACKED, AND WOODCHAT SHRIKES.

THE Paring, or Tit family, consists of small birds, seldom

attaining the size of the House-Sparrow. They are generally of stout form, with large heads, short straight tapering bills, large toes with strong arched claws, short rounded wings, and tolerably long tails. They usually inhabit forests and woods, living upon the insects and larvæ, for which they search amid the foliage, and in the crevices of the bark, assuming during the search every variety of attitude, and moving about among the branches with the greatest ease and dexterity. When on the ground, to which they sometimes resort for seeds, they advance by short leaps; they have loud shrill voices, and utter but a few notes, which are by no means melodious; their excursions on the wing are generally short, but they can, on occasions, perform flights

of considerable length, their course being rapid and undulating. They are very active, lively, and courageous little birds, and are generally so intent in searching for food as to allow a person to approach them quite close. We have in this country six species.

THE OX-EYE TIT (Parus Fringillago), sometimes called the Great Titmouse, the Ox-eye, the Great Black-headed Tomtit, and the Blackcap. The latter term, however,

belongs more properly to the Warbler of that name.

The length of this bird is about six inches and a quarter; the head, fore part of the neck, a transverse band on each side, and one down the centre of the breast and abdomen, are a fine glossy black; the back is yellowish green; the breast and sides yellow; on each side of the black head is a distinct white patch forming the cheek, and giving a very striking appearance to the bird, which, although in point of size the chief of its genus, is yet less than the Robin. Throughout the cultivated and wooded parts of Great Britain is the Great Tit found pretty generally, although it is somewhat rare in the north. In the winter it becomes a partial migrant, shifting from place to place in search of food. On the Continent it is said to extend as far north as Norway, Sweden, and the southern boundaries of Siberia. A bold, bright-eyed, lively bird, with a spice of drollery about it which amuses one; up and down the tree it goes, anyhow, with the head as often down as the tail, prying into the crevices of the bark, and poking its sharp hard bill into the curled-up leaves, and swallowing, with infinite gusto, the delicate morsels which it extracts from thence, uttering all the while its sharp chirping note of satisfaction. Whom shall we call on to give us a picture of its every-day life? Mudie will do it as well as anyone :

The birds pair in February, and soon after retire to a little greater distance from houses than that at which they are found in the cold weather: but they may still be found in

INDUSTRIOUS PARENTS.

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gardens and copses, though they keep more in the close foliage than many other birds. As, during summer, trees are the abode and pasture of the Great Tits, they prefer holes in trees as nestingplaces, when these are to be found in their locality; and if the tree be in a state of decay, so that it can be chiselled by the stroke of their bills, they trim, and probably sometimes wholly excavate, nesting-places for themselves. If the trees do not afford a proper place, they will nestle in the holes of walls, and trim the mortar, if there, to suit their purpose; and in young plantations which afford neither, they sometimes form their nests in the thick herbage which surrounds the root of a young fir; but in these they nestle less frequently than in the others. The quantity of materials in the nest varies with the situation. In a deep hole of a tree which is warm and sheltered, there is sometimes little else than chips of wood which the birds have detached; but in more exposed situations, the nest is formed of moss, and lined with hair and feathers. The young come out of the egg in a much less advanced state than many other birds; they are blind, and remain so for a few days; but as they eat heartily, and both parents are equally industrious in feeding them, they grow fast, and in the course of two or three weeks they are able to fly. The brood are of a social disposition, and continue hopping about in the trees adjoining the nest, till the moult, which takes place in about six weeks. When spring comes, the family society breaks up by the pairing of the young; the pairs are very much attached, and attentive to each other. It is supposed that the attachment is for life; and that if they are not disturbed, they use the same nest for many successive broods. Both birds assist in the building of the nest, and also in the incubation. The two batches, and the number and voracity of the young in each, keep the birds fully employed during the summer, so that they have less time for sport than many of their fellow-tenants of the trees. As during that period they are wholly insectivorous, the number of insects and larvæ of which they clear the trees is very considerable; and during the time when the young birds are în rapid growth, the activity and industry of the old ones are worthy of admiration. They are in continual motion; now running along the branches, again leaping from twig to twig so swiftly that their motions can hardly be discerned, and ever

and anon darcing out a little to catch any winged insect that may happen to come within the range of their very acute vision. In extracting their smaller prey from the chinks of the bark, the Great Tits, in all probability, use the tongue as a prehensile instrument, for the point of it terminates in four filaments, by which a very small object could be embraced. It is also probably used in picking aphides from the leaves and tender shoots. Trees growing near rank places are preferred to those that stand upon a clear surface, as they abound more in insects; and the Great Tits may often be seen watching an opening through which there is a current, or even attacking the bees as they leave or return to a hive; but the little thieves are so clever that, even on the latter occasions, one can hardly bear to drive them off.

When the house-flies become languid in the autumn, the Tits capture them in vast numbers; and when insects fail, they make prize of the autumnal spiders. In the dead season, when insect life is chiefly in the egg, though they hunt for the eggs with great diligence, yet they do not find in them a sufficient supply of food. At that time they pick up nuts, acorns, and the capsular fruits of other trees; hold them in their claws, and hammer away with the bill, till the hardest shell or toughest capsule is opened. They also eat the seeds of the grasses, especially those that are of an oily nature, and of such size that they can hold them in the foot and pick them open, for they do not grind or bruise with the edges of the bill. They feed greedily upon carrion; and when they come upon other birds in a benumbed or exhausted state, they despatch and eat them, first breaking and then emptying the skull.

When the snow lies heavy on the ground they approach houses, and hunt about for any offal that may come in their way. They are very partial to thatched roofs, as numbers of the insects which remain dormant in the winter hide themselves there. The birds cling to the eaves with their back undermost, and draw out the straws very dexterously and expeditiously one after another, scrutinising the whole length as it passes; and dropping them as soon as they are cleared, or it is discovered that they present nothing eatable. So successful are they in that operation, that they soon bring out a heap of thatch; and, though that is, of course, no part of their purpose,