﻿TITMOUSE, 551 



No bird in thefe parts makes fo curious and elegant a neft as Place and 



this : it is generally of an oval fhape, with a fmall hole in the 

 fide * by way of entrance ; the outer materials are mofs, liver- 

 wort, and wool, curioufly interwoven, and compleatly lined 

 within with the fofteft feathers. This is not fufpended from a 

 branch, as fome of this genus, but firmly applied on the fork of 

 a branch, three or four feet from the ground. They lay generally 

 from ten to feventeen eggs f, which are greyiih, with a mixture 

 of reddifh, but paler at the large end. 



This bird appears to be common enough in moft places, but 

 is particularly fo in orchards and gardens, biting off the buds 

 with great dexterity : is an active, reftlefs animal, flying ever 

 backwards and forwards, and running up and down the branches 

 in all directions with great facility. The young and old keep 

 together the whole winter, not feparating till the fpring invites 

 them to pair and forward their race. 



We find them recorded by authors as inhabitants of Sweden 

 on the one hand, and Italy on the other, and no doubt occupying 

 the intermediate places. By their fullnefs of plumage, equalled 

 only by the Owl, one would think them able to bear the cold 

 of even a more rigorous climate than the firft-mentioned ; yet 

 wonderful, like the White Owl, it has likewife been brought 

 from Jamaica, and both of them appeared to us juffc as fully 

 clothed as in the coldeft regions^ 



* Fri/cb obferves, that there are fometimes two entrances, the one oppofite 

 to the other, that the bird may not ruffle the feathers in turning round. 

 f Often as far as twenty. Sahrne orn. p. n6« 



La 



Manners, 



