BIRDS AND GARDENS 209 



them working over every twig in the most 

 thorough way, and certainly not a Rose bud 

 has been hurt ; while they have been much too 

 busy to attack the fruit trees. I am rather 

 blessed here in the matter of tits, so that I 

 can speak from experience. The blue tit, 

 cole tit, ox-eye, and that most exquisite bird 

 the long-tailed tit, frequent the garden. And 

 the latter is one of our greatest benefactors ; 

 for he will find and eat the most minute 

 insects that lodge in the cracks of the bark 

 or behind the buds, and uses the silk of 

 caterpillar cocoons for his exquisitely built 

 nest. A pair of long-tailed tits did me the 

 honour of building in a furze bush last Spring 

 just outside my stables. And it was a real 

 treat to be able to observe the lovely little 

 pair closely. When the young were hatched, 

 I watched the parent birds feeding them at 

 the rate of an insect every two minutes. But 

 a tragedy took place. A tremendous thunder- 

 storm washed the nest, heavy with the 

 growing brood, out of the furze bush, and 

 my gardener found it on the ground with 



