11 NOVEMBER 1949, Page 18

New Bad Habits The degeneration of tits in their dealings

with man seems to be general. Here is another lamentation (from York) for the losses they inflict: "For about six weeks blue tits have been coming into the children's bedroom during the day and quite literally tearing their books to pieces. The boys keep their favourite books in a small book-case on a chest of drawers, and the tits fly in, perch on the top shelf and peck all down the spines and along the tops of the books. It is not clear whether they eat some of the paper or not ; but each evening there is a small pile of bits on the top of the chest." The birds appear to be literary. They show a distinct preference for Beatrix Potter I