BRAAKSMA S (1965) A nest-find of the Penduline Tit Remiz pendulinus in the province of Noord Brabant. LIMOSA 38 (1): 6-12.

In september 1962 a decoy-man saw something hanging in a willow-shrub on the border of the decoy-pond on the Hofmansp1aat, in the nature-reserve de Biesbosch in the province of Noord-Brabant. He supposed it to be a toy-balloon. As he considered it impossible to remove it from the shrub without disturbing the ducks in the pond, he left it where it was until he had to clear his pond from ice on the night of the 9th of december 1962. Then he cut it off in darkness, still believing it to be a toy-balloon. It will be understood that he was rather astonished to perceive a small bird flying out of the supposed balloon, which after all proved to be a particularly beautiful bird's nest. The decoy-man who had never seen such a nest before, took it home and handed it to the manager of the nature-reserve, who in turn showed it to the author of this article and another ornithologist. As we all came to the conclusion that the nest could be of no other bird than a Penduline Tit (Remiz pendulinus), we decided to forward it to the Leiden-Museum. Previously we asked the Rivon-botanists to tell us something about the buildingmaterial. They told us that the upper part of the nest consists mostly of the pappus of Epilobium parviflora and/or Epilobium hirsutum, while the lower part contains a lot of pappus of Typha angustifolia. Besides this material the nest contains some dry willow-leaves and some fine fibrous material, probably from certain grass-species. The inside contains pappus of Salix dasyclados and/or Salix caprea. As the pappus of both Epilobium-species usually is not available before the month of July and the nest has not been completed (as the picture shows), we conclude that the nest was not used for breeding. It is probably a nest that has been built by a solitary male, which has been using it as a sleeping-place. Eurasian Penduline Tit Remiz pendulinus

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