hole of entrance of the parent bird ; it is formed, too, of the 

 softest materials ; its exterior is of moss, twisted together 

 throughout with wool and the nests of spiders, and covered 

 over, outside (as the nest of the Chaffinch), with pieces of 

 white lichen ; its inside is so thickly lined with feathers, as 

 to obtain for it, in some parts, the name of featherpoke. — 

 With all its capabilities, I have never been able to detect 

 " the hole behind for its tail to come through," mentioned by 

 Mr. Selby. The Long-tailed Titmouse is by no means com- 

 mon ; I have never met with it so often as to destroy the no- 

 velty and interest which its appearance never fails to excite ; 

 they are most sociable little beings, and except during the 

 breeding season are very rarely seen alone ; united, during the 

 winter months, they may be seen in families passing from 

 hedge to hedge, and flitting after each other in such rapid 

 and uninterrupted flight, as though their little aerial bodies 

 were sustained by the breath of heaven alone. With the ex- 

 ception of the Golden-Crested Wren, the eggs of the Long- 

 tailed Titmouse are smaller than those of any other British 

 bird ; they are from seven to sixteen in number ; the spots 

 are sometimes scarcely visible, — Fig. 3. Upon finding the 

 nest of almost every bird, we may predict, with tolerable cer- 

 tainty, the number of eggs it will contain (provided the bird 

 has begun to sit) ; but with the Blue and Long-tailed Tit- 

 mouse, it is far different. There is a strange uncertainty in 

 the number of their eggs ; I have found each with seven eggs 

 only, and hard sitting ; the nest is placed commonly in some - 

 thick bush, or on the bough of a tree. I have seen it in the 

 latter situation, so closely resembling a part of the tree, that 

 had it not been that my attention was attracted to the spot 

 by the repeated flight of the birds in that direction, I should 

 never have discovered it, nor did I even then till 1 had 

 watched one of them enter it. 



It is an early breeder, and is frequently sitting on its eggs 

 towards the end of April. 



