PERCHING BIRDS. 85 



same purpose and with a like result, the bottle having 

 been allowed to remain by the occupiers of the farm- 

 house. In 1822, the old plum tree upon whose boughs 

 the bottle had been placed having fallen into decay, the 

 bottle was rested on the branches of an adjoining plum 

 tree, and fastened by iron hooks. The change of posi- 

 tion, however, did not cause the little creatures to desert 

 their home. The Cumberland Paquet of May, 1844, 

 recorded the continuance of the tenancy without inter- 

 mission up to that date. From another reliable source 

 I am able to add, that in 1851 the pair made their 

 appearance as usual to take up their summer residence. 

 It had always been the custom of the inmates of the 

 farmhouse to draw the nest of the previous year out of 

 the bottle, but this year they had neglected to do this, 

 and the pair selected another place for their nest. How- 

 ever, in the following year the needful preparations 

 were made, and the birds again built their nest in the 

 old domicile, and safely reared their numerous progeny. 



Whether at the present time the bottle is still 

 occupied I am not able to say. It would be an ex- 

 ceedingly interesting fact if we could ascertain how 

 many pairs had tenanted the bottle during these years, 

 for we may reasonably conclude that it was not the 

 same pair. Taking the number of the young of this 

 species at ten, which is, I believe, a fair average, between 

 seven arid eight hundred individuals must have been 

 the produce of this " inexhaustible bottle/' 



The chastely-coloured Cole Titmouse (P. ater) is far 

 from uncommon, but it is exclusively a denizen of our 

 woods and plantations, and I never saw it in other situa- 

 tions. It does not refuse to mingle with others of the 

 family ; but it is in little parties of its own species, 



