PENDULINE TIT. 71 



from the time of Aldrovancli, two hundred and seventy years ago, have 

 been eloquent and minute in their descriptions of this singular domicile, 

 and of its ingenious and skilful architects. 



A good deal of difference is, however, to be found among their 

 descriptions, and I have therefore thought better to give at length 

 the history of the process, as well as some of the most interesting 

 points in the bird's economy, from two recent observers, one of whom, 

 it will be perceived, accounts for the discrepancy in the descriptions 

 of former naturalists. 



In the "Revue et Magasin de Zoologie," for 1859, No. 3, we have 

 the following account by M. Moquin-Tandon : — 



"The Remitz Or Pencluline, called by various authors Mesange de 

 Pologne or de Narhonne, and by others Mesange des saules or des 

 marais, is without doubt one of the most remarkable of European 

 birds. This bird displays a wonderful industry in the construction of 

 its nest; no other species in France or Europe forms anything so 

 elaborate and curious. 



The nest of the Remitz is not cup-shaped like that of most birds, 

 but is closed at the top, is more or less ovoid, and in the form of 

 a bag or purse; on the side near the top is a small round entrance, 

 which is prolonged into a conico-cylindrical passage, either placed 

 horizontally or obliquely from top to bottom. It is in some respects 

 like that of the Long-tailed Tit, but it is more delicately and skil- 

 fully built, and it is particularly distinguished from it by the manner 

 in which it is suspended. This nest does not rest upon the branches 

 or trunk of the tree; it is quite free, and always hangs from the 

 upper part of the flexible branches of aspens, willows, tamarisks, 

 and other trees or shrubs which grow on the borders of rivers or 

 marshes. This is why some ornithologists call the Remitz, Penduline, 

 (Parus nidum suspendens.) 



When the nest of the Remitz is turned on one side, with the 

 opening above, it resembles somewhat a woollen sock both in shape 

 and material; so much so, that the peasants in the neighbourhood of 

 Nimes have given the bird the name of Deiassayre, (stocking-weaver.) 

 This little architectural chef-d'-oeuvre is more or less lengthened ac- 

 cording to the age and other circumstances of the bird. The most 

 ordinary form is that of a bagpipe, of which the pipe has been 

 shortened. 



M. Requien, of Avignon, sent me from the neighbourhood of his 

 native town a nest of this form, which is very" characteristic. It was 

 taken on the borders of the Rhone, suspended to the bough of a 

 young aspen, by a rather long and narrow cord. It had the following 



