NESTS IN HOLES OF TREES 161 



webs, only a small hole left on one side of the 

 oval-shaped nest for ingress ; the whole studded 

 with lichens and bark scales so as to match 

 the immediate surroundings. It is somewhat 

 unaccountable why this lovely little creature 

 should, alone of all its congeners, build a nest 

 that to us seems singularly inconvenient in view 

 of its long tail, but so it is. The nest is loosely 

 and warmly lined with a great amount of 

 feathers. 



Of birds that build in holes in trees, the 

 wood-peckers select one with some portion 

 sufficiently decayed, and excavate their own 

 retreat with their powerful beaks, the chips 

 below often betraying the locality. One species 

 of this interesting family has of late years 

 begun to return to its old haunts north of the 

 Tweed, and it is earnestly to be hoped that 

 those who are fortunate enough to find them 

 nesting will refrain from giving any hint, how- 

 ever vague, as to the locality in the public 

 press ; for such serves merely to bring down on 

 them the egg-collector and his hungry gang. 



A natural hollow in a tree serves often 

 for the nest of the tawny owl, although it 

 frequently uses an old nest of rook or crow, as is 

 the constant habit of the long-eared owl. The 

 white or barn owl is more apt to select church 



