THE TITMICE. 307 



as this apartment was much used by the establishment, they 

 shortly became on friendly terms with every one, and soon 

 lost their natural shyness. They seemed to thrive unusually 

 well when people were in the room, and constantly flew and 

 hopped about them. Their habits and dispositions could 

 thus be easily observed. Above the Kafalugn* or stove, 

 they made a nest for themselves; composed of thread, slips of 

 paper, cotton, wool, and the like, and occupied it together. 

 They always slept in the nest itself, never in any other part 

 of the room. Their food consisted chiefly of oats, previously 

 soaked in water; but a fly, a spider, or other insect that 

 came in their way, was instantly siezed upon. They never 

 captured them on the wing, however, but always on the 

 walls or in the windows. They were, in fact, predatory 

 birds. Candles, whether of tallow or wax, were picked to 

 pieces by them ; meat, whether dressed or undressed, they 

 appeared much to prize. 



" When spring came, and the windows were opened, they 

 flew away, and disappeared ; both, however, having been 

 previously marked with a piece of silken thread tied around 

 the neck. 



" The following November, after a frosty night, a servant- 

 maid reported that two small birds were fluttering about the 

 hall ; and when the door of the afore-mentioned apartment 

 was opened, they flew in ; and after that they had visited the 



* In the better class of houses in Sweden, this is not the small iron stove 

 occasionally seen in English workshops, &c., but a somewhat massive pile 

 of brick and mortar, reaching generally from the floor to near the ceiling. 

 Generally it is placed in the corner of the room, but often at the side of it ; 

 and from being usually a handsome structure, as well in regard to form, as 

 from its exterior being embellished with Dutch ti]es, it serves rather as an 

 ornament to the apartment than otherwise. 



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