This is a true Tit, and never rests, but is hunting here and there, slipping in and out, in constant movement, from morning till night, now and then indulging in such gymnastic exercises on the frailest twigs, as would by comparison make the limb-dislocating mountebank look a clumsy lout. Nothing can be more charming than the society of which the Long-tailed Tit is the grand master. It comprehends the Great-Tit, the Blue-Tit, and the Coal-Tit, one or two tree runners, Spotted Woodpeckers and a Nuthatch. The whole form a brigade of workers, who rove through the woods and gardens, each one working according to the measure of its strength. They search a tree, from the bark to the point of the thin topmost twig, where the Long-Tailed one is quite at home, so light a featherweight is his body--the twig bends, but does not break, and the tail acts as its balancing pole. This society gathers at the same hour at the same place, in the late autumn, in order to seek fresh places. The note of the Long-Tailed Tit sounds like “_je, je, je,_” and “_gey, gey, gey, gey_.” It lives on injurious insects, and wherever it builds its nest in wood or garden it is a priceless treasure. It is not rare in Hungary, and deserves to be protected. * * * * * There are various forms of the Long-tailed Titmouse in Europe; our own form is fairly common in localities which suit its mode of living. It is resident and common in Ireland, but very local in its occurrence in Scotland. These Tits often rear two broods in a season, and afterwards the whole family may be seen flitting about [Illustration: USEFUL. LONG-TAILED TIT.] together, in single file from hedgerow to hedgerow. There is a dipping motion in their flight which is pretty to watch. All these feed on insects and their larvæ. [Illustration: A bright winter friend.] The Long-tailed Tit is the size of the Wren; a round-headed little bird with a tiny beak, and a very long tail. The head is white, and suggests that of a grey-headed old grandfather. The fore-part of the back is black with white patches on the shoulders, the tail black, the three outer feathers being for the most part white, and graduated in length, the two middle feathers being shorter. The under part is rose colour; the tiny beak black. THE NEST OF THE LONG-TAILED TIT. [Illustration: LONG-TAILED TITS AND FAMILY.]