i8o A HISTORY OF BIRDS 



ally it is studded with such lichens as best accord with the 

 surroundings of the nest, and bits of birch-bark, these final 

 additions being held in position by the aid of spiders' webs. 

 Inside the wool is still more closely felted and interwoven with 

 fine hairs, while the final touches are given by a few feathers 

 deftly arranged, often so as to curl over and partly conceal the 

 eggs. This exquisite fabric appears to be the work of the 

 female only, and takes about three or four days in the weaving. 



No less beautiful is the nest of the Long- tailed Tit {Acredula 

 caudatd). It has indeed been justly described by the late 

 Professor Newton as "a marvel of construction, combining 

 beauty with safety and warmth ". Nearly oval in shape, and 

 with a small hole on one side by way of a door, it is composed 

 mainly of moss and wool, held together by spiders' webs ; 

 externally it is encrusted with lichens so as to harmonise with its 

 surroundings, while it is lined with feathers. This lining would 

 appear to entail a prodigious amount of labour, since Mac- 

 gillivray found in one of these nests no less than 2,379 feathers, 

 chiefly those of the Pheasant, Wood-pigeon, Rook and Par- 

 tridge. Generally this wonderful nursery is placed in the 

 middle of a thick bush, and so firmly is it bound to the sup- 

 porting branches that these must be removed with the nest if 

 the latter is to be taken intact. The cock and hen appear to 

 work alternately in its construction, which may be completed in 

 as short a time as twelve days, but a longer period is usually 

 required for this purpose. 



Usually nests which are built amid bushes or trees either 

 rest upon some big bough just where it leaves the trunk, or are 

 lodged between the parting-ways of several small branches. 

 Often, however, these branches are included within the frame- 

 work of the nest, as in the case of the Long-tailed Tit, for ex- 

 ample. And herein we probably have the origin of pensile 

 nests, of which a few examples shall be described here. But ■ 

 before proceeding to these it will be necessary to refer to a 

 type of nest which, fixed between vertical pillars, occupies an 

 intermediate place between nests interwoven between forking 

 branches and suspended nests. A good example of such a 

 nest is found in that of the Reed -warbler {Acrocephalus streperus). 

 The building material selected by this little bird consists of 

 the seed-heads of reeds and long grass mixed with wool. The 



