BLUE TIT. 



BLUE-CAP. BLUE TITMOUSE. BLUE-BONNET. NUN. TOMTIT. BLUE MOPE. 

 BILLY-BITER. HICKWALL. 



PLATE XXXIII. 



Parus cceruleus, MONTAGU. BEWICK. SELBT. 



THE nest, which is composed of grass arid moss, and lined with 

 hair, wool, and feathers, and is built in March or April, is usually 

 placed in the hole of a tree, about half a dozen, or a dozen feet from 

 the ground, or even close to it. Frequently a hole in a wall is made 

 use of, sometimes the top of a pump, though the bird may be con- 

 tinually disturbed, or the nest even in the first instance destroyed by 

 the action of the handle, the entrance being the cleft for the handle 

 to work in. 



Speaking of one instance of this kind, Bishop Stanley says, f lt 

 happened that during the time of building and laying the eggs, the 

 pump had not been in use; and when again set going the female 

 was sitting; and it was naturally supposed that the motion of the 

 pump handle would drive her away. The young brood, however, 

 were hatched safely, without any other misfortune than the loss of 

 a part of the tail of the sitting bird, which was rubbed off by the 

 friction of the pump handle/ And again, f We knew of another 

 pair of Titmice, which, for several days persevered in inserting, close 

 upon the point of the handle, the materials for a nest; though 

 every time the handle was raised, they were either crushed or forced 

 out, till the patience of the persevering little builders was fairly ex- 

 hausted/ The most extraordinary situation, however, that I have 

 heard or read of for the location of the nest of this, or of any 

 other species of bird, was within the jaws of the skeleton of a man, 

 who had been executed and hung in chains for murder. It would 



