THE SINGING BIRDS. 303 



opportunity," writes that naturalist, " of watching during seven weeks the daily operations of a pair of 

 these ingenious little builders, and have carefully examined upwards of thirty nests." He observed, 

 moreover, the whole process of their construction, and procured several in different stages of com- 

 pletion. The situation chosen was generally in the vicinity of a swamp, and the nests were almost 

 invariably suspended to the innermost twigs of the branches of a willow tree, usually at an elevation 

 of twelve or fourteen feet from the ground, although some were at a height of from twenty to thirty 

 feet, and one example was obtained from the very summit of a high tree. 



In building these admirable structures the two sexes seem to emulate each other in industry 

 and perseverance, for without this, it is difficult to conceive how such an edifice can be completed in 

 the short space of about fourteen days. 



" The mode of proceeding in the construction of one of these nests," continues the same writer, 

 " is as follows : — First of all the bird begins by winding a quantity of wool, goats' hair, bast, or hempen 

 thread, around the selected twig, at a part where it becomes forked, and between the forks are laid 

 the foundations of the walls of the nest, which thus becomes securely fixed ; from this basis a sort of 

 felt-work is prolonged into the shape of a shallow basket, in which condition it was formerly thought 

 to be a supernumerary nest, constructed for the accommodation of the male bird. As, however, the 

 work proceeds, the walls are still further produced by an accumulation of fitting materials, which now 

 consist of down collected from poplar and willow trees, interwoven with threads of bast, wool, and 

 hair, while the fibres of vegetable cotton are glued and matted together by the aid of saliva supplied 

 by the birds themselves. The structure now presents the appearance of a basket with thick rounded 

 walls, and the next part of the process is to construct the side entrance, which terminates in a small 

 round hole, while the other side also has a passage from below ; the one with the round opening is 

 now provided with a tube of from one to three inches long, while the other remains open, and only 

 felted and smoothed down at the edges ; lastly, the bottom of the inside of the nest is thickly carpeted 

 with loose unrolled vegetable wool, and the structure is at length completed. The nest now appears 

 a round ball or bag, from six to eight inches in depth, and from four to five in width, with a round 

 entrance like the neck of a bottle, which at first bending down soon stands out horizontally towards 

 the entrance, which is circular, and provided with a slightly thickened margin." 



" It is impossible to confound such a nest with that of any other bird, and, therefore, we are 

 quite assured that the Bottle Tit has repeatedly made its nest in German)-, where deserted nests are 

 frequently found in winter by men employed in clearing away the reeds in various localities." 



The eggs, according to Baldamus, are usually seven in number, and have a smooth, delicate, pure 

 white shell, which, owing to its transparency, appears pale red until it is emptied of its contents. 

 We are told, on good authority, that both parents assist in the process of incubation. The young are 

 reared principally upon small caterpillars, flies, and beetles. 



The REED TITMICE (Panurus) are distinguishable by their slender body, long and much 

 graduated tail, moderate-sized wings, in which the fourth and fifth quills exceed the rest in length, 

 and their short, much-curved beak. The plumage is comparatively smooth and compact, but varies 

 according to the age or sex of the bird. 



THE BEARDED TITMOUSE. 



The Bearded Titmouse (Panurus biarmicus) is light cinnamon brown on the upper part of the 



body, greyish blue on the crown of the head, and light rose-red on the under side ; the throat is 



whitish, the region of the tail black ; the brown wings are decorated with a white stripe, and edged 



with a line of black. The chin ot the male is covered with a beard-like tuft of soft black feathers, 



