THE TITMOUSE. 29 



to everybody; they might be called our minor Jack- 

 daws, so pert and bustling, never at rest, always 

 prying about, peering into every little chink and 

 cranny, and, even in the breeding season, when 

 most birds retire to more unfrequented haunts, still 

 lurking about our homesteads, and placing their 

 nests in the oddest and sometimes most conspicuous 

 situations. Thus, a pair of Titmice (Parus cceru- 

 leus], built their nest in the upper part of an old 

 pump, fixing it on the pin in which the handle 

 worked. It happened, that during the time of build- 

 ing and laying the eggs, the pump had not been in 

 use; when again set going, the female was sitting 

 and it was naturally supposed, that the motion of 

 the pump-handle would drive her away. The young 

 brood, however, were hatched safely, without any other 

 misfortune than the loss of a part of the tail of the 

 sitting-bird, which was rubbed off by the friction of 

 the pump-handle. The opening for the pump- 

 handle seems, indeed, to be a favourite spot, not- 

 withstanding its danger, as we knew of another pair 

 of Titmice, who, for several days, persevered in 

 inserting, close upon the point of the handle, the 

 materials for a nest, though, every time the handle 

 was raised, they were either crushed or forced out, 

 till the patience of the persevering little builders 

 was fairly exhausted. 



Another pair of the same species established 

 themselves in a still more singular, though certainly 

 less frequented spot, neither more nor less than in 

 the mouth of the skeleton of a man, who had been 

 hung in chains for murder. Another pair of a dif 

 ferent species (Partis major), had wisely fortified 



