328 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
flocks amongst brushwood, low trees, or flowers ; in such situations 
it hunts with great assiduity for minute insects, in which occupation 
it strongly reminded me of some of the Titmice, which it much 
resembles in its mode of climbing and feeding. It utters a low and 
almost inaudible chirp or whistle. I once found in Ondonga, on 
March 27th, a nest of this species containing one young bird and 
one egg, the latter being of so extraordinary a size that, had I not 
shot the old bird at the nest, and had not the identity of the egg 
been corroborated by the young bird, I should not have believed 
that it belonged to this species. The nest had been rudely displaced 
from its original site and was hanging down several inches, very 
much the worse for its misfortune; I only wonder the birds stuck 
so bravely to it. The rim of the nest was composed of very 
fine twigs of small slender bushes, interlaced with decomposed silky 
grasses ; the rest of the nest was chiefly of the latte material, but 
lined within with fine tendrils. When I first observed the nest there 
was no bird present; but after waiting awhile one appeared and was 
on the point of entering the nest, when it perceived me and moved 
slowly out of view. Not feeling quite certain of its identity, I 
waited for nearly another hour to get a second sight of it, when both 
parent birds came and settled quite close to the nest, and I killed 
the male. 
It is common about Nel’s Poort, and is the fabricator of the nest 
figured by Le Vaillant, plate 131, which is there erroneously attri- 
buted to “ Le Pine Pine,” which is clearly the Hemipterya tectrizx, 
called by the Dutch colonists “ Tinc-Tine.” 
The nests fabricated by these minute birds are wonderful structures, 
more like balls of felted cloth than the habitation ofa bird. They vary 
in size from five to eight inches in length, and three to five inches 
in diameter. Some that we have torn to pieces appeared as if felted 
in layers, coat upon coat. Hach nest is furnished with a tubular 
entrance, underneath which is a pocket, the use of which is doubtful. 
Some say the male bird sits therein during the night; others attri- 
bute it to the cunning of the birds to deceive snakes, as it draws the 
tubular neck of the real entrance into the body of the nest, and 
closes it so tight that the snakes mistake the pocket for the orifice, 
and vainly try to penetrate the nest thereby. We have conversed 
with several individuals who had been deceived by this proceeding, 
and did not find out their error until the parent bird effected her 
