COUNTRY LIFE
Amato attributes of the past Christmas, much more important than the mistletoe, most of it imported from France, was the return of the coco- nut to the market. The tits everywhere were again to be seen playing the acrobatic gourmadd on half, or, better, three-quarters of a fruit. The steady stream of letters on the subject of these birds is being slightly swollen from the Continent and America, both North and South. The French names are fond and interesting. The great tit is la grande char- bonniere. Why in the world should coal be selected as a comparison for either sort of tit ? The blue tit is spoken of as mesange bleu, and our coal tit or marsh tit is the little nun, nonnette. The great tit in France appears to be the cleverest. He pulls up the hanging string till he can rest the lump of fat aLthe end on a foundation. If the fat is too heavy, he flies straight on to it until such time—not a very long one—as the weight is sufficiently reduced for him to pull it up.
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