Relationship of Birds. 305 
starlings, wood-pigeons, fieldfares, and redwings, may 
be seen in winter all feeding in the same field, and all 
in large flocks. 
Some evidence of a supposed tendency to inter- 
marry among birds may perhaps be deduced from 
the practice of the long-tailed titmouse. This species 
builds a nest exactly like a hut, roof included, and in it 
several birds lay their eggs : as many as twenty eggs 
are sometimes found ; fourteen is a common number. 
Here there is not only the closest relationship, but a 
system of community. This tit has a way sometimes 
‘of puffing up its feathers—they are fluffy, and in that 
state look like fur—and uttering a curious sound much 
resembling the squeak of a mouse; hence, perhaps, 
the affix ‘ mouse’ to its name. 
The tomtit also packs, and flies in small parties 
almost all the year round. They remain in such 
parties until the very time of nesting. On March 24th 
last, while watching the approach of a snowstorm, I 
noticed that a tall birch tree—whose long, slender, weep- 
ing branches showed distinctly against the dark cloud 
—seemed to have fruit hanging at the end of several 
of the boughs. On going near I counted six tom- 
tits, as busy as they could be, pendent from as many 
tiny drooping boughs, as if at the end of a string, and 
swinging to and fro as the rude blast struck the tree. 
The six in a few minutes increased to eight, then to 
nine, then to twelve, and at last there were fourteen 
together, all dependent from the very tiniest drooping 
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