﻿NEST OF THE BLUE TITMOUSE. 



181 



first nest had been destroyed, the pump was in daily, al- 

 though not frequent use — perhaps for an hour every 

 evening : this fact was evident from the surprising quan- 

 tity of materials that was taken out at each time, and 

 which were sufficient to have constructed five or six 

 ordinary nests. How long these most industrious little 

 builders would have persevered in this effort to build, as 

 it were, upon water, it is impossible to say. But as either 

 the garden must have suffered, or they be fairly driven 

 out, we chose the latter alternative : to put an effec- 

 tual stop to further attempts, the top of the pump was 

 taken entirely off ; the removal of this natural shelter 

 had the desired effect, and no other attempt was made. 

 It should have been observed, that owing to the decay 

 of the wood work, there was a small hole on the side, 

 which enabled the birds to pass in and out of the frame, 

 even when the top was covered over. This inveterate 

 habit of building under cover is not peculiar to the 

 blue titmouse. Montagu, the best authority on this 

 subject we can quote, has the following observations 

 upon our British species.* cc The Cole titmouse likewise 

 builds in some hole, either in a wall or a tree. The 

 great titmouse has all the habits of the blue species, 

 and builds in a hole of a wall or tree ; " and, he adds, 

 curiously enough, " we once found it in the barrel of a 

 garden pump." But let us proceed a step farther, and 

 having traced in the titmouse the passage between an 

 uncovered, or ordinary nest, to a roofed one, as seen in 

 the wren, we shall proceed by another gradation, also 

 exhibited in the genus Parus, which will lead us at 

 once to the pendant structure. 



(157.) The long tailed titmouse (Parus caudatus) 

 observes Montague, " makes a curious oval nest in the 

 fork of some bush or branch of a tree. In this parti- 

 cular it deviates from the rest of its class, which in- 

 variably build in some hole ; the bearded t and crested 



* Ornithological Dictionary, original edition. 



+ The nest of this species was not then known to British naturalists. 



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