PENDULINE TIT. 17 



of the nests figured by Guettard has little bits of straw 

 sticking out, of which, the greater part are worked into 

 the texture. The Tits now arrange at the bottom of 

 the nest a small couch formed of down, feathers, and 

 other very soft materials. The colour of the nest is 

 generally greyish or whitish, according to the material 

 of which it is made. Aldrovandi and Thienemann have 

 described nests with two openings, one before and one 

 behind; but in all the nests I have received I have 

 only noticed one entrance. 



"We have seen that the edifice of the Remitz is 

 suspended from above; the bird first makes the cord, 

 which he twists round a flexible branch. This cord, 

 which is more or less long and thick, is divided into 

 two parts, one of which goes into one side of the nest, 

 the other into the other, and it is easy to observe how 

 this cord will make at first two openings, one before 

 and one behind, and one of which, as the nest advances, 

 the birds shut up, and complete the other into a pretty 

 little door. 



The Remitz is not often seen in the north or centre 

 of France, but frequently in the southern departments, 

 and above all on the shores of the Rhone, Durance, 

 Gar don Herault, and Lez. The male and female work 

 together, and take eighteen or twenty days to complete 

 the nest. This activity is surprising when the perfection 

 of the work is compared with the size and feebleness 

 of the birds. 



The Remitz lays four or five eggs, rarely six or seven. 

 They are like those of the House Swallow, but smaller. 

 They are rather elongated; the shell slender and dull. 

 When just laid they are of an ivory white, and a pure 

 white when blown. Great diameter fifteen millemetres, 

 small diameter ten millemetres; weight when empty 



