BLUE TIT. 207 



in this a pair of Blue Titmice built their nest, hatched their 

 eggs, and reared their young. There was no cork in the 

 bottle, and the birds had no other way of entrance than 

 through the mouth; going up and down the neck of the 

 bottle every time they carried food to their young ones, all 

 of which, ten in number, were reared without accident, and 

 made their escape unmolested through the neck of the bottle. 

 When they were fairly gone, the bottle was taken down, and 

 the old nest found within. The bottle was fifteen inches 

 deep, and the neck one inch in diameter. I am at a loss 

 to know how the birds could manage to ascend.' Mr. Thompson 

 mentions a similar case in an ornamental jar; and another, 

 communicated by Mr. Poole, in which the male used to feed 

 the female through the neck of the jar. The nest is also 

 often placed under the eaves of houses, the tiles of the roof, 

 or any suitable part of an out-of-doors building; if in a tree, 

 the outer passage leading into an inner apartment is hollowed 

 out by the bird itself in a truly marvellous manner, as smoothly 

 as if wrought by the hand of man: one has been known to 

 build in the end of a disused leaden pipe. 



Mr. M. Saul has narrated in the 'Zoologist,' the following 

 most singular instance of something akin to reasoning in a 

 case of the kind, if indeed the motive was such as he has 

 imagined: 'Two birds made their appearance; one entered 

 the hole, and appeared to be pecking away at the wood inside, 

 for as it managed to separate piece after piece, it brought 

 them to the other bird, which remained at the entrance; and 

 this last flew away with each piece, and carrying it to a 

 distance from the tree, dropped it on the middle of the road, 

 as if to avoid the detection which was almost sure to follow, 

 if the chips had been carelessly dropped at the foot of a tree 

 in a frequented thoroughfare.' 



In the 'Gloucestershire Chronicle' of June 17th., 1837, was 

 recorded the following: 'In the course of the present week, 

 two men engaged in sawing into planks an oak tree at Mr. 

 Hunt's timber yard, near the canal basin, found in a hole in 

 the centre the nest of a Blue Tit, containing several eggs. 

 The nest must have been in this situation, it is supposed, 

 for the last century, and when taken out was quite wet. The 

 surface of the tree was entirely sound, and there was no 

 appearance of a communication to this hidden cavity.' 



The same nest is frequently repaired from year to year: 

 the Revs. Andrew and Henry Matthews have known one 



