A Tit’s Nestling.
The Blue Titmouse.
(Parus cærúleus.)
Crown bright blue, forehead and cheeks white. A dark stripe is drawn from above the eyes towards the nape. The white cheeks are edged at the back and underneath, with black. The under part and rump are sulphur-yellow, or rather lemon colour. Tail and wings blue, like the bloom on a ripe plum. There is an oblique white stripe on the wings. The beak is like a little grain of wheat. Legs bluish. The nest is placed in holes of trees with small opening and is composed of soft stuff and is very lightly built. The clutch consists of seven to ten eggs, which are like those of the Great-tit, only much smaller. As many as eighteen eggs have been recorded as being found in one nest.
It is one of the prettiest and most useful birds, and in its actions resembles the other Tits. The number of insects destroyed by these rises into millions, and it has been observed that one pair, in the course of seventeen hours brought food to their young 475 times. Its cry is clear and piercing: “Tgi, tgi, tgi”—or “Ze, ze, zirr,” or “Ze, ze, he-he-he-he-he.”
It is a real treasure, and not rare in Hungary.