84 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



are perhaps the special favourites, but brambles, iv}-, 

 woodbine, hazels, whitethorns, and birches are frequently 

 selected, as are also the branches of oaks, ehns, and 

 other forest trees. The nest of this species is one of the 

 handsomest examples of bird-architecture to be found 

 in the world, and takes about a fortnight to complete. 

 It is globular in shape, like that of the Wren, with a 

 small hole in one side near the top for ingress. The 

 outer materials are chiefly composed of moss and lichens, 

 cemented and felted together with spiders' webs, and 

 often bits of wool ; the interior is thickly and warmly 

 lined with feathers and hair, the former usually pre- 

 dominating. The substance of the nest is very similar 

 to that of the Chafifmch, and the outside is generally 

 made closely to resemble surrounding objects, with a 

 view to concealment. I have on one occasion had a 

 nest of this species with a kind of flap over the entrance 

 hole, which must have been raised every time the parents 

 either entered or quitted the structure. Selby and others 

 have asserted that the nests contain two means of exit, 

 but if this statement be true, the fact must be a very 

 exceptional one. 



Range of egg coeouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Long-tailed Titmouse are usually from 

 six to eight or ten in number, but instances are on record 

 where many more have been found, up to sixteen and 

 even twenty. It is probable that these very large 

 clutches are the produce of two females. I have certainly 

 seen several birds near one nest on more than one 

 occasion. The eggs of this Titmouse are pure white, or 

 grayish-white in ground colour, very sparingly and 

 minutely spotted with pale red, and with underlying 

 markings, similar in character, of gray. Very often the 

 eggs are almost if not entirely devoid of spots, or have 

 the colouring matter suffused indistinctly over the entire 



