36o 



British Cage Birds. 



third, 3in. ; and the remainder graduating to the two extreme 

 outside feathers, which measure only Ifin. The four middle 

 feathers are all black ; the remainder are white on the outer 

 web. The entire plumage is soft, full, and tufty in appear- 

 ance. The legs and claws (climbers) are black. 



Habits and Breeding. — The Long-tailed Titmouse is indi- 

 genous to Great Britain, but found in greater numbers in 

 some parts than in others. It is not so plentiful as the Ox 

 Eye or the Blue Tit. It is regarded as a singular bird, and 

 is known by a great variety of names, the most common, 

 and more generally recognised, being the Long-tailed Tit 

 and the Bottle Tit — the latter name being derived from 

 the form of the nest, which bears a strong resemblance to 

 the shape of a bottle. Mac Gillivray makes a separate genus 

 of this variety, which he calls the " Muffin " {Mecistura) ; 

 but he is the only naturalist that has done so, all others 

 classing it among the Tits. 



These birds, like the other varieties of the same species, 

 inhabit woods, orchards, gardens, and pleasure grounds attached 

 to country houses, and are equally troublesome to horti- 

 culturists and the proprietors of gardens and orchards. They 

 build their nests in bushes, dense undergrowth, or small trees, 

 in the latter case always choosing the fork of a branch 

 about 3ft. or 4ft. from the ground ; they never suspend them 

 from a branch, as some of the other Tits do. The nest is 

 both curious and elegant, and displays, both in its construc- 

 tion and finish, architectural and mechanical skill of a high 

 order. It is oblong in form, with an aperture at one side 

 (sometimes one on each side) for ingress and egress, and is 

 beautifully formed and artistically executed. The materials 

 used to make the outside are moss, dry grass, and wool, or 

 liverwort, these being ingeniously woven together in a most 

 dexterous and masterly fashion ; the nest is profusely lined 

 with feathers and the down of plants, and occasionally 

 with fur. 



The hen lays from ten to twenty eggs (usually sixteen or 

 seventeen), about the size of a kidney bean, and in colour 

 greyish white, dappled with pale red, these markings being 

 most numerous, and fainter in hue, at the blunt end. The 

 hen incubates from fourteen to sixteen days, and sometimes 

 hatches as many as fifteen young ones, but rarely more than 



