26 



THE LIFE OF A BIRD. 



Neil on a Railroad. 



wooden walls. In an ash tree at Walton Hall 

 a nest was found under singular circumstances. 

 On cutting away some decayed wood, most unex- 

 pectedly the nest of a titmouse appeared in the 

 centre of the tree. It would seem that a con- 

 siderable period before a branch had been blown 

 down on one side of the trunk. The wound, 

 consequently, caused the decay of the trunk in 

 that part, and here the bird made its entry, and 

 probably resorted to it every year until the 



