Tomtits. 271 



Some evidence of a supposed tendencj* to inter- 

 marry among birds may perhaps be deduced from 

 the practice of the long-tailed titmouse. This spe- 

 cies builds a nest exactly like a hut, roof included, 

 and in it several birds lay their eggs : as many as 

 twenty eggs are sometimes found ; fourteen is a 

 common number. Here there is not only the closest 

 relationship, but a system of community. This tit 

 has a way sometimes of puffing up its feathers 

 they are fluffy, and in that state look like fur and 

 uttering a curious sound much resembling the squeak 

 of a mouse ; hence, perhaps, the affix ' mouse ' to its 

 name. 



The tomtit also packs, and flies in small parties 

 almost all the year round. They remain in such 

 parties until the very time of nesting. On March 

 24th last, while watching the approach of a snow- 

 storm, I noticed that a tall birch tree whose long, 

 slender, weeping branches showed distinctby against 

 the dark cloud seemed to have fruit hanging at 

 the end of several of the boughs. On going' near I 

 counted six tomtits, as busy as they could be, pen- 

 dent from as many tiny drooping boughs, as if at 

 the end of a string, and swinging to and fro as the 

 rude blast struck the tree. The six in a few min- 

 utes increased to eight, then to nine, then to twelve, 

 and at last there were fourteen together, all depen- 

 dent from the very tiniest drooping boughs, all 

 ^swinging to and fro as the snow-flakes came silently 

 floating by, and all chuckling and calling to each 

 other. The ruder the blast and the more they swung 

 heads downwards the merrier the}' seemed, 

 busily picking away at the young buds. Some of 

 them remained in the tree more than an hour. 



