TOMTIT OR YELLOW-RUMPED TIT 279 
two broods being reared ; but the same nest is not 
used twice. 
The nest is a comparatively large and rough struc- 
ture of dead flowering grasses and rootlets, with a 
great deal of whitish materials, such as cocoons, seed- 
pods, and the like, on the outside ; internally it is 
warmly lined with a thick pad of feathers and rabbit- 
fur. The entrance is at the side, usually with a 
slight spout or hood. What has caused much specu- 
lation is a sort of second chamber built on top of 
the nest proper, and usually open, though I have seen 
it almost completely roofed over. This second 
chamber is never lined. It is popularly called the 
" cock's nest " ; but it is not known whether the 
male bird ever roosts in it. Nor does every nest 
have it. The Bronze Cuckoo has been known to 
deposit its egg in this cock's nest." 
There are two situations which, above all others, 
the Tomtit prefers as nest-sites : one is the pro- 
jecting boughs of a kangaroo-acacia hedge, the other 
the drooping overhang of the she-oak. I should say 
quite 50 per cent, of all Tomtits' nests in this district 
were built in acacia hedges. It was in such a hedge 
that I beheld my first Tomtit's nest in August, 1884. 
It was rather well hidden, as I remember, and about 
8 feet from the ground. I was held up by a natural- 
history-loving uncle, and allowed to see the cosy little 
domed dwelling and even for a moment to handle a 
pearly-white egg. Thirty years ago, but the memory 
is as fresh as this morning's paper. 
