THE BOTTLE-TIT 33 



with tail feathers double the length of those of any 

 of its congeners. 



The nest, too, of the bottle-tit is a remarkable 

 structure ; and I, like many other people who are not 

 careful to observe for themselves, used to imagine 

 that its bottle shape was designed to accommodate 

 the long tail of the parent bird, just as civilised 

 man carries a box of peculiar shape to carry his 

 monstrous head-gear. See how vain it is to speculate 

 on such matters ! I have never been lucky enough 

 to see the parent bird sitting on her eggs, but I am 

 told by those who have done so that she sits with 

 her tail sticking out of the front door. What, then, 

 is the object of the deep purse-like nest, with its 

 thick sides of warm material 1 One would say that 

 it was intended to keep up temperature during 

 incubation. The tiny body of the mother, not much 

 more substantial than that of one of the large hawk- 

 moths, could not replace the heat escaping from an 

 open nest ; indeed, it is wonderful how it can supply 

 enough to hatch the large number of eggs, sometimes 

 from ten to eighteen. But, then, if that be the 

 purpose, how comes it that the gold-crested wren, a 

 creature no bigger than a bottle-tit, has never in- 

 vented a lid to the cup-shaped nest in which it rears 

 c 



