26 MARCH 1948, Page 14

Reasoning Tits It was delightfully said by a scientific writer

on birds that they could be much cleverer if they had to be. An example of this may be quoted from a northern garden this winter. A lump of fat was hung from the bough of a lilac bush just outside the window of the house. The blue tits to whom it was offered found the lump of desirable fat over-wobbly, so they now perch on the bough and draw the string up hand over fist. Now this trick has been often observed in caged birds—it is quoted by the tit-observer of caged red-polls—which in general may be said to develop a sort of skill more comparable with reason than instinct. Tits, doubtless, are more adaptable than most birds ; witness their discovery whenever the oppor- tunity was offered of the way into the cream at the top of sealed milk bottles. How different mentally are birds and insects, as the experience given below shows.