THE PRANKS OF THE TUFTED TITMOUSE. 163 



Next the little builder went to the bake-oven, 

 and found an old paint keg with an ear of corn 

 and some nails in it, where she wove "a very nice 

 nest," as my friend s?ijs, into which she laid four 

 eggs ; and then the cat again interfered with her 

 brood rearing. Not yet disheartened, the per- 

 sistent little architect sought a cosey hiding-place 

 behind a shutter of the parlor window where a slat 

 had been broken out. This space was first filled 

 with coarse grass and leaves, and then, as before, 

 the inside was lined with fine, fibrous material. 

 " Susan," says my correspondent, " would often sit 

 and watch the bird building her neat domicile, and 

 when the inside was somewhat filled up, the little 

 toiler would creep into the cavity, flutter about 

 awhile until it became nicely rounded, and then hie 

 away for more building mateiial. After the main 

 part of the nest had been finished, the bird attached 

 a neck to one side, making the entire structure 

 about six inches long. The orifice of the neck was 

 just large enough to admit the bird. Here she 

 finally succeeded in hatching four nestlings." 



Another nest was built in an old paper-holder in 

 an out-building, and another in a crock in m}^ in- 

 formant's smith-shop. " One of these birds," he 

 continues, "came down through a hole into my 



