16 PENDULINE TIT. 



pieces of wool and the roots of couch-grass. The length 

 of the suspending rope varies very much. M. Schintz 

 has figured one, which was brought to me, in 1823, 

 from the environs of St. Gilles, (Garcl.) by General de 

 Fregeville. It was suspended to an old aspen on the 

 borders of the lesser Khone, by a cord four centimetres 

 and a half long. 



Guettard has figured two nests of the Penduline, the 

 cords of both being finished by a sort of buckle which 

 surrounds a small branch. I have never seen this sort 

 of fastening. Those I have observed were always twisted 

 round a bending branch, while both assisted in sup- 

 porting it as well as constituted a part of its structure. 

 Thus suspended by a flexible cord, this pretty little 

 cradle is gently rocked above the surface of the river 

 or marsh, where the insects upon which the Remitz 

 feed are found in abundance. The opening of the nest 

 always faces the marsh or river near which it is built. 



The nest is composed of tufts of thistles, dandelions, 

 viper grass, but above all the light and silken down 

 which surrounds the catkins of willows and poplars. 

 There is also found in it horse-hair and other animal 

 materials, but only when vegetable substances are scarce. 

 I had a nest from the neighbourhood of Pezenas, which 

 was almost entirely composed of sheep's wool, and which 

 had consequently a very strong smell of the grease of 

 that animal. 



Having brought together the materials necessary for 

 its nest, the Remitz interlaces them, felts them, gums 

 them together, and thus produces a sort of thick cloth, 

 very close and firm. (It is in fact a real cloth or felt.) 

 This tissue is strengthened with the narrow leaves of 

 grasses, fibres, and rootlets, which sometimes stick out 

 of the exterior. Thus the frame-work is made. One 



