CRESTED TITMOUSE. 
155 
insects, they thronged the branches of some noble En- 
glish-looking oak-trees, which adorn the outskirts of the 
forest at Kissingen, in Bavaria. They were equally 
abundant amongst the pine-trees; and although it was 
too late to obtain their eggs, I had the pleasure of dis¬ 
covering one of their nests and of thus learning some¬ 
thing of their nidification. 
When trees are felled in the forest, their trunks are 
left standing about two feet above the ground, and in 
the decayed wood of one of these a hole was scooped to 
contain the nest of which I have spoken, just such a 
situation as would have been chosen by the cole-tit¬ 
mouse. The nest was of dry grass and moss, and lined 
with feathers, and contained five full-fledged young ones 
which scrambled out of the nest as we began to examine 
them. This species is said to lay from seven to ten eggs. 
Mr. Hancock’s nests each contained no more than five 
eggs, and the one mentioned above only five young ones. 
