9 
Although not so common as the Wren, a careful search 
among the fruit-trees is usually rewarded by a sight of the 
Tree-creeper. I have not found it nesting with us, although 
there would seem many suitable places in the orchard. 
Three varieties of Tits are to be found in the garden; 
the Great Tit and Blue Tit are very common winter and 
summer; andthe Marsh Tit in their company visits the 
cocoa-nuts and boxes which I place on trees near the house 
during the winter months. Their antics whilst feeding 
cause no end of amusement and interest. 
A pair of Great Tits (Parus Major, Linn.), commenced 
to build on the last day of April in a box which had 
been placed for the purpose in an apple-tree. 
The nest was a typical one, composed of moss and a 
good deal of red wool which had evidently been torn from 
an old mat. It was warmly lined with wool and _ hair. 
Both birds took part in building, and finished the nest on 
May 4th. The first egg was laid on May 5th, and on the 
12th the female began to sit on a clutch of seven. She 
sat extremely closely, and often refused to move when the 
box was opened. This was done very frequently, in the 
hope of finding the male bird sitting. He was never 
discovered doing so, and, indeed. visited the nest seldom 
in the daytime during incubation, though he always roosted 
in the box at night. He was not observed to carry food to 
the sitting female during this period. 
On May 24th seven young birds were safely hatched; 
in appearance excessively ugly, the only covering on their 
otherwise naked skins being a suspicion of down on their 
skulls and shoulders. The legs and claws looked much 
too strong for the rest of their bodies. 
On the fourth day there was down on the dorsal tract, 
and signs on the wings of the coming pen-feathers. On 
the sixth day the bluish tinge was noticeable. The tail- 
feathers could not be seen until the tenth day. The first 
nestlings had their eyes open on the eleventh day. 
On the fifteenth day a curious incident occurred—the 
female laid an egg on the young birds! When twenty-one 
days old the nestlings were fully feathered. and two days 
later they left the nest. 
On leaving the box the old birds usually carried out 
the feces of the young, and dropped them a short distance 
