Urcdiiiii oj I hi' drcil-'rH In CaptivUij. 241 



fratlii-i-s lly. The following day (April 18th) I liberated the 

 male Itird, and by using the hen as a Uecoy was able to eapture 

 the gentleman of her choice, U)v when ]iut together thei-e was 

 no sign of disagreement. 



I had always understood that Great-Tits were mucii 

 harder to meat oil" than the Blue-Tit, but these bii-ds nevei' 

 looketl sick nor sori-y on a diet of sundower seed and meal- 

 worms. 



On I'eturning to Eton on April the 21 si, I turned llu; 

 birds out into a small aviary 9ft. x Sft. x Kjl't. higii, and 

 and provided them with a Berlepsch nesting log, which I had 

 sawn in half, and hinged for purposes of inspection. At \\vA 

 my Tits were extraordinarily wild for such impudent ,uid i-ou- 

 liding bird.s, bu;t a fortnight later I thought I saAV the lien Ijird 

 carrying and on looking into the box I found about a handful 

 of moss, at the bottom of the cavity. 



p]ach nigld the hen slept in the lo.u', llic male inoiuiling 

 guard in a small travelling cage nailed up a few feet above 

 the log. 



On May 10th (3 weeks from their capture), a lu-at 

 cup shaped nest had been built, composed enVirely of line mo.ss, 

 and lined with hair or fluff obtained from a piece of coarse, 

 felt, and the first Qg^ was laid. Six more eggs were laid on 

 successive days, but incubation only started in earnest after 

 the second Qgg. , ' , 



As fai' as my olis.-i-variun goes tlie male look no pari 

 or interest in the Ijuilding. an.i certainly not in incubaliou. The 

 latter lasted 13 days, and not once during this time did I see 

 the hen ofl" her nest, though I looked into the log on two occa- 

 sions to make sure she was in the land of the living. 



|What food she had was given her bjy the cock, unless per- 

 haps she left her eggs in the early hours of the morning. 



On May 28th the hen made her first re -appearance into 

 the world, and suspecting that she had hatched I took a <iuick 

 look into the box and found five chicks. On the following day 

 one more had put in an appearance; the seventh e^^ !uul dis- 

 appeared. The young birds were a dark brown colour, with 

 black dow^n on head and back. 



And now began what for the cock must have been hard 

 labour, from early morn till almost dark he devoted himself to 



