NEST OF LONG-TAILED TIT 223 



hand, and often it stands free like a little beehive. It is 

 beautifully roofed in with a domed top, and has at the 

 side an opening large enough for a big bumble bee. It 

 is constructed of the finest moss, and the softest fluff 

 from the meadows and poplars ; it is soft, and yet so 

 strongly put together that no human workman can 

 imitate it. 



In this soft, warm nest the tiny bird lays its nine, 

 sometimes eleven, eggs. These are white with rose- 

 coloured spots at the thicker end. The male and female 

 birds sit alternately on the eggs for fourteen days; and 

 then the hard work begins twelve babes to nourish, and 

 with the finest food ! 



The industry of the Swallow is truly great, but that 

 of the Long-tailed Tit is still greater. The Swallow 

 seizes its booty while on the wing, and has only to open 

 its beak ; but the Tit has to go from branch to branch, 

 working sometimes head downwards, sometimes swing- 

 ing, in order to secure the tiny morsels. 



Truly he who does not delight in the sight of this tiny 

 family united by love, who is not moved when the twelve 

 baby birds are seen sitting close pressed together on a 

 slender bough, and the little parents come and go, with 

 their continuous cry, bringing food and giving it in 

 turn to the young ones he whom such a sight does not 

 fill with pleasure, must have a stone in his breast instead 

 of a heart. 



