THE PENDULINE TITMOUSE. 233 



it does not give nearly so vivid an idea of its object as if it were 

 still suspended to its branch. 



The Tailor Bird is a native of India, and is tolerably familiar, 

 haunting the habitations of man, and being often seen in the gar- 

 dens and compounds, feeding away in conscious security. It 

 seems to care little about lofty situations, and mostly prefers the 

 ground, or lower branches of the trees, and flies to and fro with a 

 peculiar undulating flight. Many species of the same genus are 

 known to ornithologists. 



The tailor bird is not the only member of the feathered tribe 

 which sews leaves together in order to form a locality for its nest. 

 A rather pretty bird, the Fan -tailed "Warbler (Salicaria cisti- 

 cola), has a similar method of action, though the nest can not be 

 ranked among the pensiles. 



This bird builds among reeds, sewing together a number of 

 their flat blades in order to make a hollow wherein its nest may 

 be hidden ; but the method "which it employs is not precisely the 

 same as that which is used by the tailor bird. Instead of passing 

 its thread continuously through the holes, and thus sewing the 

 leaves together, it has a great number of threads, and makes a 

 knot at the end of each, in order to prevent it from being pulled 

 through the hole. A description and beautiful figure of this bird 

 may be seen in Gould's " Birds of Europe," vol. ii. 



The odd little titmice can be admitted among the Pensile Birds, 

 as one of them constructs a habitation as purely pensile as any 

 which has yet been mentioned, and which yields in beauty to 

 none. This is the Penduline Titmouse (JEgithalus pendulinus), 

 a native of Southern and Eastern Europe. As is the case with 

 all its family, it is a little bird, scarcely exceeding four inches in 

 length, and being marked with pleasing though not very brilliant 

 colors. In general habits it resembles the bearded titmouse of 

 England, haunting the sides of streams, and feeding upon the 

 seeds of aquatic plants, as well as upon the various insects, larvas, 

 and small mollusks that are found so plentifully in the water. 



The chief point of interest in this bird is, however, concentrated 

 in its nest, which is made in a flask-like shape, and is mostly sus- 

 pended to the extremity of some twig that overhangs the water. 

 Willows, and other trees that are fond of the water, are favored 

 residences of this curious little bird. The larger end of the nest 



