78 LONG-TAILED TITMOUSE 



and the tail of the female out at the other, so that both the 

 apertures are partially closed, and the male is ready to start 

 out as soon as there is light enough for hunting, . . . the male 

 going out first in the morning, and the female last at night ! " 

 (Bewick says that the male has his head and the female her 

 tail out of the same hole.) There being, however, in reality 

 but one orifice through which they " have their exits and their 

 entrances," will perhaps be a sufficient answer to both these 

 theories. How the birds manage is another question, but 

 certain it is that it is so. The nest is so admirably adapted 

 by the lichens or moss it is elegantly covered with to the 

 appearance of the tree it is built on, as to make it oftentimes 

 very difficult to be detected. 



It is generally placed between the branches of a tree, 

 unlike those of the other Titmice, and frequently not far from 

 the ground, or firmly fixed in a bush ; is composed of moss, 

 small fragments of bark and wool, compacted with gossamer- 

 like fibres, and the cocoons of spiders' eggs, and the chrysalides 

 of moths, and plentifully lined with feathers, so much so, as in 

 some parts of the country to have acquired for it the sobriquet 

 of "feather-poke;" one, on their being counted, was found 

 to contain two thousand three hundred and seventy-nine. 

 It is, as may be supposed, waterproof and very warm. 



It is from five to seven inches long, by three or four 

 wide, and the aperture about an inch and a half in diameter, 

 and the same distance from the upper end. The elasticity 

 of the materials of the nest tend to keep it rather closed. 

 One has been seen in which a feather of the lining acted as 

 a valve or door, but I think this must have been accidental. 

 The fabrication of the nest occupies from a fortnight to 

 three weeks ; and the credit of the handiwork belongs to 

 both male and female ; she not being, as has been asserted, 



