182 
PARID.E. 
their long narrow tails drooping, the little party has a 
singular appearance. During winter they crowd together in 
a hole in a bank or tree for warmth. 
In their everlasting motion while awake, these birds show 
the family they belong to, but they are not quarrelsome nor 
cruel, like some of their predecessors. Towards mankind 
they show little fear, but on the approach of a bird of prey 
they fly into the thickest part of the nearest bushes with 
such cries of alarm, that other birds present have notice of 
the enemy’s approach. As before mentioned, these birds 
prefer wooded districts, and are fond of the vicinity of Avater. 
The notes of the Long-tailed Titmouse, besides the usual 
call, are tea ! tea! and tsee-ree-ree ! Their food consists 
chiefly of insects, and their eggs and larvae. 
The nest of this species is one of the most beautiful 
among the structures of birds, and deserves the greatest 
admiration for its lightness and delicacy. So many and 
various are the situations chosen by the little architects, that 
it is difficult to say where these beautiful nests are most 
commonly to be met with. They are found in thorn-hedges 
and bushes, fruit-trees, willow shrubs, furze bushes, &c. 
The nest is of a long oval form, with the entrance on one 
side towards the top ; the materials chosen are green moss, 
matted together Avith spider-cots, vegetable wool, and frag¬ 
ments of the bark of birch-trees. The outside materials, 
consisting chiefly of tree-moss, are usually taken from the 
bush or tree in Avhich the nest is placed, Avhich assimilates 
it with the stems, and sometimes serves to preserve it 
from detection until the little ones are floAvn. The entrance 
of the nest is scarcely large enough to admit a person’s finger, 
and is nearly closed by the elasticity of the constructing ma¬ 
terials. When complete, such a fabric cannot be looked 
upon Avithout the utmost admiration and wonder, when Ave 
observe the minute fragments of Avhich the nest is chiefly 
