WHITE-HEADED LONG-TAILED TIT. 8i 



softest, and warmest of all possible homes. The 



nest of the Long-tailed Tit is so well known, and 



has been so often described, that it is not 



necessary to give a long account of it here ; but 



it is certainly one of the most remarkable of all 



nests built by birds, and has been known to have 



as many as 2,000 feathers in its construction. 



The nests of the true Tits, concealed as they 



^ are in a hole of a tree or building, are often very 



rough structures, though sometimes the larger 



nests which the Great Tit builds in a flower-pot, 



or a pump, or a post-box, or in some such out 



of the way place, are neat enough, but they are 



far behind that of the Long-tailed Tit, as regards 



beauty and finish. Other little members of the 



Family which build a bag-like nest, are the 



Penduline Tits {Remiss a and Anthoscopus), tiny 



species, inhabiting Africa and Southern Europe, 



and from these countries extending to Central 



Asia, and even as far as Northern China. The 



nests made by the Penduline Tits are like bags 



of closely woven felt, layer upon layer of cotton 



being employed in their construction, so that in 



South Africa one of the species goes by the name of 



the "Cotton Bird," on account of its curious nest. 



6 



