THE LONG-TAILED TIT 
It is a hollow ball nearly oval in shape, with one hole 
through which the tail of the parent bird may often 
be seen poking. Both Mr. and Mrs. Long-tailed 
Tit join in building the nest, and this takes from two 
to three weeks. They knead it with their breasts 
and shoulders, and fasten it in the fork of a tree, a 
hollow in some tree-stem, or in the middle of a thick 
bush. The walls are of moss and lichen, held by 
spiders’ webs, and the clever little creatures use wool 
also, and cocoons of spiders’ eggs, and the chrysa- 
lides of moths, and weave these together with threads 
of fine wool. The inside of this nest is as soft and 
cosy a bed as one could imagine, being plentifully 
lined with tiny feathers. In one nest these were 
counted, and found to be over two thousand in 
number. 
The eggs of this bird are not any larger than a 
pea. They are pure white, or pearly grey in colour, 
sometimes faintly spotted with red. In one nest 
from ten to twelve eggs are found, and sometimes 
even as many as eighteen. But when there is such 
a number it is supposed that two mothers have used 
the same nest. 
Tiny though he be, the Long-tailed Tit has a 
