(iO THE USEFUL BIRDS 



The eggs numbered six, and one male bird appeared to be the 

 husband of both the sitters, whom he fed liberally with insects 

 during their enforced detention. How this state of matters 

 would have developed I cannot say, as observations were 

 interrupted by the wailful destruction of the nest by some 

 lawless vandal. 



The disposition of this species is certainly a friendly and 

 trusting one. A young neighbour of mine one evening caught 

 a family of this Tit, comprising the parents and three young 

 ones, and transferred them, along with the nest, to a wire- 

 faced box. They were carefully kept and fed for fourteen 

 days, at the conclusion of which they were allowed their 

 freedom. Each evening for three weeks they returned to the 

 box to roost, and doubtless would have continued the custom 

 had not the innocent-looking cat of the house preyed upon 

 the five in the late hours of one night. 



In further evidence of the goodnature of this bird I may 

 say that, having extracted the eggs from one nest, I kept 

 them away for nearly twenty minutes, and then replaced 

 them, with the exception of a Cuckoo's egg that had been 

 surreptitiously forced on the tiny birds. The bird, gracefully, 

 though with agitation, returned to its eggs, and, I believe, in 

 due course brought the young out, according to evidence seen 

 on my return to the nest a few weeks later. I know it sat 

 upon the eggs for days after the occurrence. 



Nest. — Suspended, side-entranced, and bearing a depression 

 on the head ; composed of grasses, bark, and spiders' cocoons, 

 the outside being very roughly finished ; feather lining 

 within. 



^99^' — White, sometimes with a few faint pink spots at one 

 end. Three or four make a sitting. Length, 0.67 inch ; 

 breadth, 0.5 inch. 



