506 PARID^. 



is studded with silver-coloured lichens adhering to a firm 

 texture of moss, wool and spiders' nests, and the inside is 

 profusely lined with soft feathers — one described by Macgil- 

 livray was found to contain 2,379 feathers, chiefly those of 

 the Pheasant, Wood-Pigeon, Rook and Partridge. The nest 

 is often placed in the middle of a thick bush, and so firmly 

 fixed, that, to preserve its natural form and appearance, when 

 taken, the portion of the bush containing it must be cut out. 

 It is, however, frequently built in more exposed situations, and 

 sometimes even high up in the fork of a tree, but in such 

 cases the lichens which beset it, being of the same colour 

 as those which grow on the trunk or arms, render it almost 

 invisible except to the trained eye. Mr. Weir watched a 

 pair of this species lay the foundation of their nest, which 

 took twelve days to build, cock and hen working alternately 

 at it, but usually the nest is longer under construction. The 

 eggs do not commonly exceed seven or eight in number, but 

 there is good evidence for as many as sixteen having been 

 found in one nest*. They are white, generally with some 

 pale reddish dots, specks or streaks, but are frequently quite 

 plain, or again slightly suffused with a lighter shade of 

 reddish : they measure from '56 to "5 by from '44 to '41 in. 

 While the hen is sitting her long tail is cocked forward over 

 her back and projects through the hole in the nest above her 

 bill : at night her mate becomes her bedfellow. The young 

 after they leave the nest keep company with their parents 

 during the first autumn and winter, and the whole family 



rare cases, and even when a second hole has been found it may perhaps be 

 caused by the nest having been built, as it often is, so as to enclose in its sub- 

 stance a twig diverging from one of the branches which support the fabric. 

 Such a nest unless most carefully taken from its site would be sure to present the 

 appearance of having a second hole. 



* A writer in the 'Zoologist' (p. 2567) suggests that when a large number 

 of eggs of this species have been found in one nest they have been laid by more 

 than one bird, adding that he has " known several instances when a considerable 

 number of birds have had one nest in common." The Editor is not aware of any 

 evidence corroborating this curious assertion, and would not here mention it but 

 tliat Mr. Hewitson in the last edition of his work seems to give it the sanction of 

 his high authority. 



