LONG-TAILED TITMOUSE. Para* caudatvt. 



tree on which it is placed, and serve to render it as little conspicuous as possible. 

 The interior of the nest is wonderfully soft and warm, being literally crammed with 

 downy feathers to such an extent that the eggs are deeply buried in the feathery bed, 

 and cannot be counted until the whole lining of the nest is removed. The nest is generally 

 placed rather near the ground, and is so well concealed that it is not easily seen except 

 by .experienced eyes. 



Its proximity to the ground, together with the great number and minute dimensions 

 of its inmates, may probably be some of the causes which necessitate the thick walls of 

 non-conducting substances of which the nest is made ; thus carrying out the principle 

 laid down on page 256. 



The Long-tailed Titmouse is by no means constant in its love for any particular species 

 of tree on which to make its nest, for it builds with equal readiness upon the apple, the 

 blackthorn, the pollard elm, and the sloe, always, however, choosing some thickly branched 

 and heavy foliaged tree for the purpose. The handsomest nest that I ever saw, and one 

 which was for a long time in my possession, was built upon the sprays of a thick furze- 

 bush, and another that I removed from the tree was placed upon a spreading broom-tree 

 in a garden. 



The entrance to the nest is usually by a single hole, situated near the roof, but in some 

 instances a second hole has been made near the bottom of the nest on the opposite side. 

 This singular variation has been the subject of much comment, but I believe that it may 

 be caused by the particular locality in which the bird happens to build. Should the nest 

 be in a bleak, exposed situation, there is only the single inlet ; but if it should be placed 

 in a sheltered spot, a second entrance is employed. Moreover, in many instances where 

 notice has been taken of the subject, the aperture has been made towards the south. 



Ventilation seems to be one object of this double entrance, as it is never, so far as my 

 own personal experience goes, made when the nest is exposed to the north or east wind. 

 It must be remembered that the exhalations of birds are peculiarly plentiful and 

 unpleasant, and that a closed nest, when made of such warm and thick substances, would 

 bo extremely unhealthy without some such precaution. 



