The Hanging Home in the Oak Tree 211 



to go into the nest, but hastily backed out, and into the tree. At 6.03 he again 

 went to the nest and was very noisy and insistent. I hardly knew what to make 

 of his actions, but when, in two minutes more, the female popped out of the nest, 

 I knew that all this noise and fuss was being made by the little male in an effort 

 to get his little spouse to join him in the tree. For ten minutes Madam was away, 

 then she returned to her duties, and I do not believe that even an irate mate 

 could get her off those eggs again that night. 



When two weeks of this brooding by the female had ela])sed, I went to the 

 nest, expecting to see both birds busy feeding. From my observations the year 

 before, I knew that no time was spent in loafing about after the nestlings were 

 hatched. I have one feeding record of thirty-five times in one hour; another 

 time the two birds fed forty-seven times in sixty minutes, — the shortest interval 

 being one-half minute; the longest, five and one-half minutes. 



You can, perhaps, imagine my surprise when I found that the Tits were 

 taking more building material into the nest, instead of food. What could it mean ? 

 This was April 5. Two days later the pair were still carrying in building material, 

 making it evident to the observer, as plainly as if they had been able to tell it, 

 that there were no young in the nest. 



On the morning of the ninth, word came to me that the magnificent oak 

 where the nest hung was to be trimmed up, necessitating the cutting off of the 

 branch bearing the nest. I had worked hard to prevent the entire tree being 

 cut down to make room for a cottage, and, though I had succeeded in saving 

 the tree, the protest against trimming all the grace and beauty out of it had been 

 of no avail, — and so the nest had to come down. For a day I left it hanging in 

 my vard, hoping that the birds might come over, as they had been doing almost 

 daily, and so resume family affairs; but, when they did not, I took it down and 

 opened it for investigation. I found two small pinkish eggs, that were laid about 

 three inches below the opening. It was evident that they were newly laid. Prob- 

 ably, had the nest been unmolested, more would have been added, since these 

 birds lav as many as nine eggs in one brood. I had felt, when I found the birds 

 carrying material into the nest instead of food, that probably, the eggs not hatch- 

 ing, they had covered them over and gone to laying more. By searching among 

 the feathers, some two inches farther down, I found that my surmise was right. 

 There, so completely hidden, that for some time I failed to find them, lay two 

 more eggs, these two lacking the pink tint of the unbrooded eggs. I also found 

 that I was right as to this being a last year's nest. Still down below the old eggs, 

 nearly at the bottom of the nest, there was a layer of material having particles 

 of an old egg and shells, plainly showing that a brood had been hatched there. 



Originally, it had been some seven or eight inches from the opening to the 

 bottom of the nest, but the filling-in process had brought the last eggs nearly 

 up to the opening. 



It was marvelous, the numl^er and size of feathers that went into the inside 

 of that nest. Count them I could not without destroving the nest, but I verily 



