The Long-tailed Tit is the size of the Wren; a round-headed little bird with a tiny beak, and a very long tail. The head is white, and suggests that of a grey-headed old grandfather. The fore-part of the back is black with white patches on the shoulders, the tail black, the three outer feathers being for the most part white, and graduated in length, the two middle feathers being shorter. The under part is rose colour; the tiny beak black.
The Nest of the Long-tailed Tit.
It is not only in our latitudes that the nest of the Long-tailed Tit is considered a masterpiece, but even far away south where nature works such marvels, where the little humming birds, scarcely bigger than the joint of a child’s finger,
LONG-TAILED TITS AND FAMILY.
shine in the sunlight like diamonds and rubies, and build nests no bigger than half a small hen’s egg,—even there, this nest is looked upon one of the finest specimens of bird architecture. It is the most charming, most beautiful, and warmest bird abode. Most often it is round, the twigs supporting it like the fingers of the hand, and often it stands free like a little beehive. It is beautifully roofed in with a domed top, and has at the side an opening large enough for a big bumble bee. It is constructed of the finest moss, and the softest fluff from the meadows and poplars; it is soft, and yet so strongly put together that no human workman can imitate it.
In this soft, warm nest the tiny bird lays its nine, sometimes eleven, eggs. These are white with rose-coloured spots at the thicker end. The male and female birds sit alternately on the eggs for fourteen days; and then the hard work begins—twelve babes to nourish, and with the finest food!