THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 259 



CHAPTEE III 



WORK AND THE FAMILY. 



The whole tribe of wrens and titmice make us forget 

 their tiny size in the skilful finish of their work, and the 

 delightful love Avhich reigns in every family; it is some- 

 times a perfect marvel to witness. 



Among these charming guests of our thickets can be 

 distinguished the common wren, which builds a nest similar 

 to a little underground house. Then comes the long-tailed 

 titmouse, the globular abode of which does not exceed the 

 size of the fist, and which is made of moss and lichen. 

 The mother only enters by an excessively narrow opening, 

 and often nourishes ten or twelve little ones. It is quite 

 inexplicable how so numerous a family can be crowded 

 into such a narrow little chamber. One would think they 

 must he stifled; but the young birds, heaped one upon 

 another, are only so much more thoroughly warmed, and 

 the Avhdle brood live happy and gay in their tiny little 

 bed. 



In respect to the elegance of its construction the pen- 

 cUiline titmouse astonishes the observer still more. Its 

 nest, suspended to the branch of a tree, has exactly the 

 shape of a chemist's retort, only that instead of lieing 

 manufactured of such hard material, nothing enters into 

 the coQiposition of it but fine moss and down. The open- 

 ing is carefully woven, not one vegetable fibre protrudes 

 beyond the other! 



