And what an odd and inappropriate name for a most fragile-looking and beautiful bird - better known to us as the long-tailed tit? A writer in the English magazine The Countryman tells us that this name was used by the 18th-century poet John Clare, and presumably he wasn't alone in using it. Two lines of his verse: "Bum barrels twit on bush and tree/ Scarce bigger than a bumble bee."
The writer of the article says that Clare may not be strong on grammar or gentility, but he reflects the country mood and style. More from Clare: "And in a whitethorn's leafy rest/ It builds its curious pudding nest/ Wi 'hole beside as if a mouse/ Had built the little barrel house."
At various times a flock or family of them descend on a set of riverside bird-feeders and you marvel at the way in which they manage their extraordinary long tails. Not just long, but quite staggeringly so. How do they keep their balance? Cabot's Irish Birds shows this fascinating creature, all black, white and pink, clutching a branch, with its tail showing well. It is almost preposterous.
We have apparently about 40,000 pairs breeding, and though he says they breed in thickets, hedgerows and woodland edge, not one nest has been found in 20 years near those bird feeders, though the creatures visit often. The writer in The Countryman describes the nest as a remarkable and beautiful structure of gossamer, lichen and fragments of bark and wool. Set, usually, deep in the most inaccessible heart of thorns and briars.
It takes two or three weeks to construct, is oval in shape with the entrance hole at the top. Feathers, too. The boys of a school in Yorkshire one day counted over 2,000 in a single deserted nest. Small wonder, then, writes The Countryman contributor, Norman Deurdon, that the tit frequently chooses a site near to a farm with poultry (if the hens are not all in batteries).
An illustration shows an owl-like face emerging from the top of such a nest. Behind the head is what? Of course - a few inches of the long, long tail angled forward over the head, which has to go somewhere.
A bird of birds. Watch its family flight, it has been likened to a shower of arrows. And we'll forget the bum barrel designation which is definitely derogatory.