THE GREAT TITMOUSE AND BLUE TITMOUSE. 129 



SO engaged are young ones, for be it known the old birds, 

 if left unmolested, will return yearly to their nesting- 

 hole. You see them clinging to walls, exploring the 

 holes and crannies, and they will sometimes enlarge the 

 entrance to a selected hole by pulling out the bits of 

 plaster. But the Flue Titmouse nests in other places 

 besides walls : in the holes of trees and decayed stumps, 

 and not unfrequently in gate-posts or even pumps. The 

 nest, as is usual with birds nesting in holes, is a loose 

 and slovenly structure, made of moss and dry grass, 

 and lined with wool, hair, and feathers. The eggs of 

 the Blue Titmouse are from five to eight in number, 

 sometimes, indeed, we find a dozen or even more. They 

 are like those of the Great Tit, only rather smaller, and 

 the markings, perhaps, are not quite so bold. Pugnacious 

 motions are displayed by the birds when their nest is 

 approached. You can seldom or never drive the sitting 

 bird from its charge. Bravely it remains upon it, and 

 by hissing, puffing up its plumage, biting, and fluttering, 

 endeavours to repel you from its home. So closely 

 does the sitting bird imitate the warning hiss of a snake, 

 that when trying to obtain a glimpse of the nest and 

 its contents, I have started back in alarm, fearful that 

 instead of a nest and eggs the wall contained some 

 poisonous reptile. If you take the bird in your hand its 

 courage is none the less, for, erecting its crest, it views 

 you with eyes that seem to speak of the anger lurking 

 within, and attacks you right courageously with its beak. 

 Both birds assist in hatching the eggs, and when their 

 extensive family is hatched the exertions of the parent 

 birds are great to keep all the little mouths supplied. 

 When the young can quit the nest they still keep in 

 company with their parents, who feed and tend them for 

 some considerable time. 



K 



