sitting in a row, all facing tliat luminary, and at other times perched alternately head and tail so regularly
as to astonish those who for the first time witness it.
A nest taken in the garden o f Formosa, near Cliveden, on the 2nd of May, 1861, was of large size and of
an oval form, with an entrance in the side near the to p ; it was composed o f moss and cow-hair, outwardly
adorned all over with small pieces o f silvery lichen affixed by means o f gossamer-like fibres and the empty
cocoons of spiders’ eggs, and so plentifully lined with feathers of various kinds that, upon being counted, they
proved to be about two thousand in number ; among them, were observed those o f the Peacock, Turkey,
Partridge, Barn-door Fowl, Greenfinch, Wood-Pigeon, Duck, Turtle Dove, Thrush, Blackbird, &c. I t contained
ten eggs, the total weight of which was 142 grains; their colour white, thinly speckled with pale red.
I t would be supposed that in so warm a nest, with no other outlet than the tiny hole forming the entrance,
a single bird would afford sufficient warmth during the period o f hatching; but that it is not so is evidenced
by both male and female being often found in the same nest, side by side, with uplifted tails, and as happy
as happy can be. How the twelve o r thirteen young, when first hatched, are fed a t the bottom o f the nest,
in utter darkness, I cannot imagine; yet they a r e ; and the old birds pass in and out a hundred times in
a day, carrying one, two, or three caterpillars at each v isit: hence immense destruction is dealt out to surrounding
insect-life. As the little ones increase in size, they climb to the entrance, and there remain, with
gaping mouths, ready to receive the contributions brought by their parents.
The two s e x e s are alike in colouring, and may be thus described:—
Plumage very soft and downy, particularly the feathers o f the back, where the barbs are loose and decomposed.
In this respect, and in their short round bills, they differ from all the other species o f Tits.
A broad line from the bill down the centre o f the forehead to the occiput greyish wh ite ; sides o f the head
and neck, the nape, and back black ; scapylaries and rump tinged with rose-red; wing-covert* and primaries
black; secondaries black, narrowly edged with wh ite ; tertiaries browyish black, more broadly margined
with white; six middle tail-feathers black; the remainder black-margined externally, ynd tipped with white,
the white gradually decreasing as the feathers approach the central ones; under surface and cheeks greyish
white, tinged with rosy brown; upper p art o f the eyelash r e d ; irides hazel; bill black ; legs, feet, and
claws brownish black.
• The young o f the first year are o f a much darker hue, have the forehead greyish brown, and a spot o f white
on the crown, in lieu o f the broad white stripe of the ad u lt; only a trace o f the rose-tint on the scapularies;
the cheeks blackish brown; and the under surface g rey ; flanks and under tail-coverts vinous ; centre o f the
mandibles blackish brown, base and tip yellowish white ; gonys yellowish white on the outward s id e ; inside
o f the mouth and the tongue orange ; eye dark brown ; eyelash dull rose-pink ; legs pink ; toes darker.
As the young advance in age, the fleshy gape disappears, the white crown becomes less conspicuous, and
the tail prolonged to such an extent that, at a month old, it exceeds in length those o f the p a ren ts; and
thus the tail of the young bird is longer than * that o f the old. This difference in the leugth of the tail,
between youth and maturity, is observable in other groups of bird-, j may mention as a case in point, that I
have found it to occur among some o f the Trocliilida:, several species o f which have the tail much longer
during the first two years o f their existence than in after-life.
The Plate represents the Long-tailed Tit, nest, and young o f the natural size.