BRITISH BIRDS. 2 I I 



the eyes was wholly wanting"; the back of the neck 

 was black: the back, sides, and thighs were red- 

 dish brown, mixed with white: it probably was a 

 female. 



The nest of this bird is singularly curious and 

 elegant, of a long oval form, with a small hole in 

 the side, near the top, as an entrance; the outside 

 is formed of moss, woven or matted together with 

 the silken shrouds of the aurelia of insects, and 

 covered all over with the tree and the stone lichens, 

 fixed with fine threads of the same silken material: 

 from this thatch the rain trickles off without pene- 

 trating, whilst from its similarity in colour and 

 appearance to the bark of the branch on which it 

 is commonly placed, it is not easily discovered : the 

 inside is thickly lined with a profusion of feathers,* 

 the soft webs of which are all laid inwards, with 

 the quills or points stuck into the outward fabric. 

 In this comfortable mansion the female deposits 

 her eggs, to the number of sixteen or seventeen, 

 which are concealed almost entirely among the 

 feathers: they are about the size of a large pea, 

 and perfectly white,! but take a fine red blush 

 from the transparency of the shell, which shews 

 the yolk. This bird is not uncommon with us ; 

 its habits and places of resort are the same as 

 those of the other Titmice. It flies very swiftly, 

 and from its slender shape, and the great length 

 of its tail, it seems like a dart shooting through 



* In some places the nest is called a feather-poke. 



f Eggs taken out of the same nest differ; some are delicately 

 freckled with red spots. The difference of the eggs in the same 

 nest is not uncommon. 



