61 



GREAT TIT. 



OXEYE. BLACK- CAP. GREAT TITMOUSE. GREAT 

 BLACK-HEADED TOMTIT. TOM COLLIER. SIT-YE-DOWN. 



PLATE XXX. 



Parus major, PENNANT. MONTAGU. BEWICK. 



THE nest is usually made in a hole of a tree or of a wall, or 

 crevice of a rock; sometimes the forsaken nest of a Crow or 

 Magpie is converted into a tenement. Not unfrequently it is placed 

 in a pump either used or unused, the door-way being by the 

 orifice for the handle. Another has been known to build far up 

 among the rafters of a house; one in a window-frame, the entrance 

 being through the opening for the weight; and another under an 

 inverted flower-pot. It is composed of a quantity of moss, feathers, 

 leaves, hair, or other materials loosely compacted. Occasionally the 

 eggs are laid on the dust of the wood alone; and if I may offer a 

 conjecture on the subject, possibly these cases may be when a first 

 nest has been taken or destroyed, and the bird is in a hurry about 

 her second brood. Since writing the above I perceive that Montagu 

 has made a similar suggestion. 



The Rev. G. Sowden, of Stainland, near Halifax, Yorkshire, has 

 written me word of his having once found the nest in the wall of 

 a house, exclusively composed of rabbits' fur; all the corners of the 

 hole were filled with it: in the middle was a most exquisitely- 

 formed round hollow, and altogether it was exceedingly pretty and 

 comfortable. 



Mr. J. Brain, of Sleights, near Whitby, has obliged me with a nest 

 and eggs of this species, from which the plate is taken. 



