158 
PARIDiE. 
INS ESS ORES. 
DENTIROSTRES. 
PARIDjE. 
LONG-TAILED TITMOUSE. 
BOTTLE TIT. 
Parus CAUDATUS. 
PLATE XL. FIG. II. 
Amongst the many curious and ingeniously-con¬ 
structed nests, which we have seen and admired as the 
workmanship of the bright birds of other climes, there 
is not one which can surpass in beauty that of our own 
native Long-tailed Titmouse. It is in every way per¬ 
fect as the safeguard of the tiny beings that are to be 
reared under its protecting roof and fostered by its 
warmth, covered in and defended as it is against every 
wind that blows, and formed of the softest materials. 
Its exterior is of green moss closely and compactly 
woven together throughout with wool and the nests 
and webs of spiders, and studded and coated over out¬ 
side like the nest of the chaffinch with pieces of grey 
lichen; its inside is so thickly lined with feathers as to 
obtain for it, in some parts of the country, the name 
of feather-poke. Mr. Selby, when describing the nest 
of this species, speaks of a double hole, one for ingress, 
the other for egress, as if a common occurrence. I 
have never lost an opportunity of examining a nest, and 
have only once seen the second hole, and the nest 1 
speak of was shown as a curiosity in Mr. Empson’s 
museum at Bath. The holes were larger than usual, and 
opposite each other. 
