46 British Birds. 



whereas the true Al. caudatn of Linnaus inhabits Northern Europe and has a pure 

 white head. It is distributed over the greater part of the British Islands, becoming 

 rarer towards the northern parts, and it is said to range over France into Northern 

 Itah', and east into the Rhine Provinces, but the actual distribution of the species is 

 not exactly known at present. 



In spring these pretty- little birds build their nest of moss and lichen, 

 warmly coated inside with a mass of feathers, in a hedge or furze-bush, sometimes in 

 a tree at a considerable height from the ground. The nest is often to be found quite 

 early in the year, before the leaves have grown on the trees, and it is frequently 

 placed in quite exposed situations. The eggs are white, with scarcely perceptible 

 reddish dots, and are from six to ten in number, or even more. This numerous family 

 is snugly housed in the moss}- nest, and is brooded over at night by both parents, so 

 that the long tails of the latter can be seen resting against the hind wall of the nest, 

 and they are even said to protrude sometimes through the opening. In the autumn, 

 family parties are formed, consisting of old and young birds, which fly about the 

 woods hunting for their insect food, and following one another in regular procession 

 from tree to tree. 



This is the common species of Scandinavia and Northern 



THE WHITE-HEADED ,, ■ •»■ r- . 1 r- ■ » * u- u 



liurope, visiting Central Europe m winter, at which season 

 LONG-TAILED TIT. . "^ . „ . , t, • ■ t , t ■ 



_ . , , J , , it occasionallv migrates to the lintish Isles, in its adult 



{.Egithnlus caudatus.) - " 



plumage it is easilv told by its pure white head, but the 



young of this and our British Long-Tailed Tit cannot be told apart, both having a 



dull white crown with a dusky band on each side, and, curiously enough, a longer 



tail than the o\A birds. In habits, nest, and colour of eggs, the White-Headed 



Long-Tailed Tit does not differ in any way from our insular species. 



This IS not a true Tit at all, and ought perhaps to be called by 



its other name of the Bearded Reedling. In plumage, mode of 



, nesting, and colour of the eggs it is so different, that many 

 [Fannrjis ojarmnus.) ° "° 



naturalists have referred it to the Buntings rather than to the Tits. 

 Mv own opinion is that it belongs to neither group, but is really a Timehine bird, 

 akin to the Reed-birds of the tropical east, such as Panuhxornis. to which it 

 assimilates in style of plumage and in habits. 



The old male is easih- to be told by its cinnamon-red colour, its pearly-grej- 

 head, and by its broad black moustachial streak on each side of the cheeks. The 

 female is duller in colour, has no black moustache, and the head is brown like the 

 back. The young differ remarkably from both parents, being more tawn}-, and have 

 a black patch in the centre of the back and a black stripe along either side of the 

 crown. Though doubtless of wider distribution formerly in England than it is at the 

 present time, the Bearded Tit is now almost confined to a few districts in the 

 Norfolk and Suflblk Broads. On the Continent it occurs in marshy localities from 

 Holland, France, and Spain, eastwards to Central Asia. 



