HABITATION.--When wild it is found all over Europe, making its abode in thick deep forests. It is with us a bird of passage; but some individuals, which come from quite the north, remain during the winter near our dwellings, searching the heaps of wood and stones, the hedges and fences, and, like the wren, entering barns and stables. Those which leave us return at the end of March, stop for some time in the hedges, and then penetrate into the woods. In confinement this bird is so wakeful and gay that it may be safely left at liberty in the room, having a roosting-place for the night; it is also kept in a cage. [Illustration: THE BEARDED TIT.] FOOD.--When wild, the great variety of things which serve it for food prevent its ever being at a loss throughout the year. It is equally fond of small insects and worms and small seeds. In spring it feeds on flies, caterpillars, grubs, and maggots, which it seeks for in the hedges, bushes, and in the earth. In summer it feeds chiefly on caterpillars; in autumn on seeds of all kinds and elderberries; and in winter, when the snow has covered all seeds, it has recourse to insects hid in the cracks and crevices of walls and trees. In confinement it will eat anything that comes to table. It is fond of the universal paste, hemp, rape, and poppy-seeds, and refuses none of these things immediately on being imprisoned, and it soon seems as completely at ease as if accustomed to confinement[91]. BREEDING.--This species lays generally twice a year; placing its nest among the thickest bushes, about five or six feet from the ground; the outside is composed of mosses, and fibres of roots, and wood, and the inside is lined with the fur of deer, hares, and the like. The eggs, five or six in number, are bright bluish green. The young are no sooner fledged than, like the preceding, they quit the nest. Their plumage is then very different from that of their parents: the breast is spotted with grey and yellow, the back with brown and black; lastly, the nostrils and angles of the beak are rose-coloured. They are easily reared on white bread and poppy-seeds moistened with milk. As soon as they are tamed these birds have a great inclination to build in the room. The male and female collect all the little straws, threads, and similar materials which they can find, to build a nest among the boughs with which they are supplied for the purpose. The female lays even when solitary; they may be paired with red-breasts, and these unions succeed very well.