52 



MY LIFE AS A NATURALIST 



In view of the foregoing, I was somewhat prepared for the in- 

 formation recently given to me by a gamekeeper of my acquaint- 

 ance. One day he counted a mixed flock of forty-five Blue and 

 Long-tailed Tits, but a few days afterwards even this respectable 

 assemblage of feathered folk was hopelessly eclipsed by the 

 appearance of a flock of eighty-seven of these birds, evidently 

 made up of troops of family parties. The two species represented 

 were identical with those seen a few days previous, and as each 

 individual bird flew directly over the keeper's head, as he was 

 seated in his hut, there is no doubt whatever as to the accuracy 

 of this information. 



FIG. 18. GREAT TIT AT NESTING Box. 



The birds were crossing a somewhat wide grass-strewn track, 

 and alighted in a row of beech trees so as to commence foraging 

 for insect food. 



The Long-tailed Tit does not, of course, take possession of a 

 nesting box, as it always makes an exposed nest, and is a much 

 better architect than any of its cousins, building a wonderful 

 oval and arched-in homestead of moss, lichen, grass, and a pro- 

 fusion of feathers. Over two thousand feathers have been used 

 in the construction of one nest ! 



