230 IN BIRD-LAND 



towards her in the reeds as if he had just left the 

 nest, and while she was feeding the brood he 

 would sometimes come up with one of the green 

 caterpillars (which I was unable to identify as 

 regarded their species) to remain near, as though 

 waiting to have room made for him. When, how- 

 ever, the hen went off, he seemed never to have 

 courage enough to give anything to the young 

 birds, but invariably ate it himself, or left it lying 

 near, and picked it up when his mate returned to 

 the nest. 



Only once during four hours was it possible to 

 expose a plate, and that was while he was sitting 

 on a reed in the background while his mate was 

 attending to her duties. The hen, which visited 

 the nest about every five minutes, usually brought 

 a beakful of food and distributed this equally 

 among all the little ones, although when one had 

 had enough it would fall asleep, and so leave more 

 for those that were awake. 



Once, among the varied fare, the hen brought a 

 "daddy long-legs," and the young one to whose 

 share this fell had some difficulty in disposing of 

 the insect's limbs ; but at length, by a series of 

 gulps, all disappeared, and the baby Tit closed its 

 little eyes in satisfaction and also fell asleep. The 

 hen was very assiduous in cleaning out her nest ; 



