In the house they eat the same things as other tits; but at first, ants' eggs and elderberries must be added. The seeds of the sunflower (_Helianthus major_) have succeeded best with me, and preserved them in health longest. They will also eat hemp-seed and oats. BREEDING.--They lay ten or twelve rusty white eggs, spotted with reddish yellow, in a hole of a tree, on a bed of moss, hair, and feathers. MODE OF TAKING.--In winter they will easily enter a trap baited with nut kernels or oats. A surer method is, to lay limed twigs on a sunflower plant, the seeds of which are ripe. If these tits do not enter the garden, a plant must be carried to a place much frequented by them. When once these birds have tasted these seeds, they appear quite contented in the house. It is only necessary to supply them freely; they will seize them eagerly directly after being taken. ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--Their pretty actions please, and their song is sweet. They relieve it occasionally by a lively strain, "_diar, diar, hitzi, ailtz, ailtz!_" which is their call in the pairing season. I was never able to keep one in the house beyond two or three years. THE CRESTED TIT. Parus cristatus, LINNÆUS; La Mésange huppée, BUFFON; Die Haubenmeise, BECHSTEIN. This bird is four inches and a half in length, of which the tail measures one and one third. The beak is four lines, and black; the shanks are seven lines high, and lead blue; the head is adorned with a crest, composed of feathers nearly an inch long, black tipped with white, which the bird can erect at pleasure in a conical form. HABITATION.--When wild these birds frequent all the pine and fir woods in Thuringia, but are not so numerous as the other species[114]. They fly about low bushes, and therefore delight in places where juniper bushes abound. In the house they require the same treatment as the blue tit, and even greater attention; they can rarely be tamed when taken full grown[115]. FOOD.--In a wild state it feeds in the same manner as the cole tit. In the house it must be first fed on ants' eggs, flies, and meal-worms. It will afterwards eat nuts and hemp-seed, like the other tits, but it seems to require insects occasionally. BREEDING.--The nest is formed like that of the cole tit, and placed in the hole of a tree, amongst some stones, or in large forsaken nests. The brood consists of from six to ten snow-white eggs, spotted with bright red. The young must be reared on meal-worms cut small and ants' eggs. MODE OF TAKING.--This is the same which is adopted for catching the cole tits. Its call is "_gærrky_." ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--Its song is not striking, but its form and habits are very pleasing. THE BEARDED TIT, OR REED BIRD. [Illustration] Parus biarmicus, LINNÆUS; La Mésange barbue, BUFFON; Die Bartmeise, BECHSTEIN.