180 LONG-TAILED TITMOUSE. 



vary, building a nest of exquisite workmanship 

 both inside and out, and not seeking shelter in 

 holes, as we have seen the preceding species to 

 do. In every other part of their habits they, 

 however, closely resemble their congeners, 

 actively seeking their food, which seems almost 

 exclusively insects, or their ova and larvae, in 

 small troops, following a tract by a call, and 

 keeping company with the Blue and Cole Tit- 

 mice, to which we have often seen added a 

 small company of GoLdcrests, altogether forming 

 a curious and most interesting assemblage. The 

 nest is woven among the branches of some ever- 

 green, appearing rather large externally, but is 

 beautifully patched over with the mosses and 

 lichens furnished by the tree or shrub which 

 supports it ; interiorly it is lined with abundance 

 of feathers, or soft down ; the form is oval, 

 appearing rather suspended, and from its form 

 and warmth it, in some districts, gains the popu- 

 lar appellation of " Feather Pokes." It seems to 

 have nearly the same geographic distribution 

 with our first five species, and Temminck adds 

 Japan to its range. In Scotland it does not 

 seem to extend nearly so far northward as the 

 Cole Titmouse ; but in the middle districts and 

 south is abundant, appearing, when the trees 

 begin to be bared of leaves, in troops of from 

 five to ten or twelve, and at once catching the eye 

 and ear by the lengthened form and shrill low note, 

 ^orehead, and a broad central stripe running 

 to the occiput white, so also are the cheeks, 



