[Illustration]
Parus ater, LINNÆUS; La petite Charbonnière, BUFFON; Die
Tannenmeise, BECHSTEIN.
The length of this bird is four inches and one-sixth, of which the tail
measures one and three-quarters, and the beak one quarter. The back is
black, with the tip lighter; the iris is dusky; the shanks are eight
lines high, and lead blue; the upper part of the head and neck are
black; there is rather a broad streak of white at the back of the head
and down the nape of the neck; the cheeks and sides of the neck are also
white, forming, when the bird is at rest, a triangular spot; the back is
dark bluish ash grey.
The female is not easily distinguished from the male, unless both are
before you; its being a little less black on the breast, and a little
less white on the sides, are the only differences.
HABITATION.--When wild these birds are seen in great numbers in pine
forests, and seldom, except during their wanderings in autumn,
winter, and spring, are they met with in other kinds of woods,
groves, and orchards. They often pass from one pine forest to another
in large flights during the winter[111]. They appear to like the
society of the gold-crested wrens, which are always found in these
flights, as also some crested tits, which serve as guides.
In the house it is pleasanter to allow them to range with the other
birds than to keep them in a cage, yet there is some danger to their
companions from their cruelty.
FOOD.--When wild, besides insects and their grubs, they feed on the
seeds of different resinous trees; but as they are often deprived of
this food in winter from the trees being loaded with snow and hoar
frost, nature has given them the instinct to provide against this
emergency: they hide a great quantity of these seeds in fissures, and
under the large scales of the bark of pine trees, to which store they
have recourse when in want.
The instinct just alluded to is manifested also in the house, even
when they have abundance of all kinds of food; where they are
observed to rob the other birds of seeds and bits of nuts, and run
and hide them immediately in any crevices they may find, often
visiting these stolen stores afterwards to see if they are safe. The
blue tit and the oxeye are also accustomed to carry part of their
food into a corner, but they do not hide with so much care, or from
the same cause, as the cole tit. These birds are commonly fed on the
universal paste, but they are accustomed to it with difficulty.
BREEDING.--This species generally places its nest either in some hole
deserted by a mole or mouse, or under the overhanging edges of some
deep wheel-rut in an old disused road, rarely in holes of trees or
walls. The nest is composed of a layer of moss covered over with the
fur of the hare, roe-buck, and stag. There are two broods in the
year, each of six or eight white eggs, prettily speckled with pale
red. The plumage of the young differs from that of the old only in
having the black duller and less glossy.
DISEASES.--Decline is the most common disorder of these birds, and it
is sometimes prevented by giving them fresh ants' eggs, particularly
when moulting. I kept a cole tit six years, and it then died of old
age, having first become blind, and been often attacked with vertigo
or giddiness.
MODE OF TAKING.--Less timid and distrustful than the oxeye, this
species may be caught with greater ease. A limed twig fastened to a
pole is often sufficient, with which you approach the tree on which
the bird is, and, touching it with the twig, it becomes your
prisoner. Its call is "_tzip teune_." Like all the tits, it is
delicate, and, in the house, often dies soon before being accustomed
to the common paste.
ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--This is a very amusing little bird; bold,
lively always in motion, hopping and fluttering about continually.
Its song is only a clashing of harsh tones, relieved by a clear
sonorous "_tzifi_," repeated twenty times in succession. It sometimes
ends, however, with so reflective an air, that you would think it was
going to give something very fine.