The LONG-TAILED TITMOUSE (_Orites caudatus_) is black on the centre of
the back and white on the head; the under side is reddish white, and the
wings black, their hinder quills being broadly bordered with white; the
tail is black, the three outer feathers spotted with white. The young are
pale black on the side of the head, back, and wings, and of a whitish hue
on the top of the head and on the under side of the body. The eye is dark
brown in the adults, its unfeathered margin is light red, in the young
bright yellow. The beak and feet are black. This species is six inches
long and seven inches and three-quarters broad; the wing measures two
inches and a half, and the tail three inches and a half.
The Long-tailed Tit inhabits the whole of Europe, from its most northern
countries as far south as the Pyrenees and Alps, but is met with
comparatively rarely in Greece and Spain. Like some of its congeners,
it prefers taking up its abode on fir and pine trees, but, if these are
not attainable, usually frequents orchards or well-cultivated woodland
districts; its habits are social, and its disposition, though equally
lively and active, considerably more peaceful than that of most other
members of its family. Both sexes utter a brisk chirping note, and
the male at some seasons a faint twittering song. These birds destroy
the smallest kinds of insects in enormous quantities, and thus render
inestimable service to the farmer and gardener.
"The nest of this species," says Mudie, "has always been admired as a
model of neatness and warmth. It is formed by patient and incessant
labours of both birds for at least a month, if materials are abundant,
and five or six weeks when the supply is more scanty. It is placed in
the fork of a small mossy tree, or among the thick twigs of a shrub,
often a hawthorn, sometimes an evergreen, seldom more than three or four
feet from the ground, and generally within cover of the sprays. Its
form resembles that of an egg placed on the broader end; in appearance
and texture it is very like a short decayed stump, that has been coated
over with lichens, and is as firm in texture as it is neat and regular
in form. The main fabric is closely made of moss, taken in very small
pieces, and matted together with animal fibre, rarely with wool--as
the bird does not range so far from the bushes as to be much of a
wool-gatherer--but principally with what may be called tree or bark
silk, that is, the silken cocoons that cover the chrysalides of insects
and the eggs of spiders. These materials are firmly interwoven, but,
though the term is sometimes applied to them, they are not _felted_. The
two materials form a stronger fabric than could be made of either of
them singly. The moss gives bulk and stiffness, and the silky filaments
cohesion; and, as the birds are microscopic in their vision, they have
perfect command over their short bills, and apply these materials by very
small portions at a time. The fabric is beautifully put together, and
when there are twigs in the way the nest is so closely worked upon them
that it cannot be removed entire unless they are taken along with it.
Externally it is coated with lichens and liverworts, so closely worked in
that not a bit falls off; the inside is carefully lined with feathers,
the quills of which are worked into the fabric. The whole nest, dome and
all, is lined in this manner, so that when finished it is secure against
rain and change of temperature. The entrance is by an aperture in the
side, towards the top of the structure, and there are in some instances
two apertures, the one nearly opposite to the other, the feathers around
which are so worked into the fabric as, when not pushed aside by the
birds, to form a sort of curtain. The interior is usually of sufficient
size to contain both birds during the night, and, in the case of there
being two apertures, they sit with the head of the male out at the one
and the tail of the female out at the other, so that both apertures are
partially closed, and the male is ready to start out as soon as there
is light enough for hunting." The first brood is produced by the end
of April, and usually consists of from nine to twelve or occasionally
fifteen eggs; these are very small, with delicate white shells, more or
less spotted with pale red; many females lay eggs that are quite white.
The young are hatched thirteen days after their birth, and during all
that time the brooding mother must suffer considerable annoyance from
the unwieldy size of her tail, which is generally kept twisted round in
the most inconvenient manner: nor are the young more at their ease; at
first, despite their numbers, they manage tolerably well, but as they
increase in size each struggles for the warmest place, and pushes at his
neighbour until the nest gives way, or is rent in such a manner that the
troublesome tail can be thrust out and freer space obtained.
* * * * *
THE CRESTED TITS (_Lophophanes_) are distinguished by comparatively
slender beaks and the pointed upright crest that adorns the head. India
and America have species similar to those we are about to describe.