Bird Life in a Suburban Parish 95 



passes ])ull.s it out as a matter of eoiirse. Hut tlie ])ir(ls. 

 ill spite of this treatment, stiek to tlie same lied^e and 

 make anothei" elose to tiie same ])laee, wliicli i»eiiei"ally 

 suffei's a similar fate. I knew tliis s|)rin_i»' one pair of 

 Louii-tailed Tits wliieli built four nests ])efore tliev were 

 able to rear a brood in safety. They did sueeeed at last, 

 for after my return from Denmark I saw tlie whole family 

 party. They built in the same hedge year after year, and 

 I always know where to find two nests every season, one 

 at eaeh end of tiie farm I mostly frequent, 



'i'his year I found a half-finished nest, whieli shows the 

 method of eonstruetion. It exaetly resembled a Chaffineh's 

 nest, but one of the Lon^'-tails entei-ed it Avhile T was in 

 the aet of foeussing with the lens not more than a foot 

 away. It was pulled out the next day before it was 

 finished, being the third of those just mentioned as made 

 by the same pair of birds. 



The Xuthateh is eoiinnon enough, and may l)e often 

 heard by those who know its liquid note. Its whole life 

 being spent among the lofty branehes and rugged trunks 

 of large trees, it is not a ])ird whieh is often seen. Its 

 climbing powers are wonderful, even ri^'alling those of the 

 Woodpeckers, and excelling them in one ])articular. Al- 

 though unprovided with the stiff tail or the climbing foot 

 of these birds, it can run down a per])endicular trunk, 

 whereas they, with the assistance of the fulcrum of their 

 tail feathers, can only run up. ^As is well known, they 

 have the curious habit of filling up the aperture of the 



