142 TiiK Bearded Reedlixg. 



says that " it has not been recorded south of the Mediterranean or north of 

 Pomerania." " Finsch obtained it in the swamps of the Kara Irtish, south of 

 Lake Zaisan, on the borders of Chinese Tartar}' ; and Prjevalsky found it in 

 North-eastern Thibet." 



In Great Britain, the Bearded Reedling has of late years become very rare, 

 owing chiefly to the draining of fens and marshes ; but also to the greed of 

 dealers, who have stimulated the marsh-men to incessaut search after its nest and 

 eggs. Though formerly its range doubtless extended further northward, it is now 

 chiefl}' confined to the south-eastern and southern counties of England. 



The male Bearded Reedling differs from its hen much as some of the Grass- 

 finches do, in the different colouring of the head and absence of distinct markings 

 on the face : the description given by Mr. Saunders is so clear aud concise that 

 I cannot do better than quote it : — 



" The adult male has the crown bluish- gre}' ; a black loral patch descends 

 diagonally from below the eye and terminates in a pointed moustache; nape, back 

 and rump orange-tawny ; wings longitudinally striped with buflSsh-white, black, 

 and rufous; quills brown with white outer margins; tail mostly rufous; chin and 

 throat greyish-white, turning into greyish-pink on the breast; flanks orange-tawny; 

 under tail-coverts jet-black; beak 3-ellow ; legs and feet black. Length 6"5 in.; 

 wing 2'25 in. The female has the head brownish- fawn, and no black on the 

 moustache or under tail-coverts ; in other respects she is merel}' duller thau the 

 male. The young are like the female, but the crown of the head and the middle 

 of the back are streaked with black." 



This species is a bird of the broads, feus, and marshes ; aud, to my mind, is 

 a representative in Europe of the large family Ploceidce or Weaving- Finches ; at 

 the same time it does not, as might be expected, belong to that famil}- ; but 

 .should perhaps be regarded as a link between the latter and the Buntings ; its 

 habits resembling the former, and its nidification the latter group of birds. 



The nest, which I have found once in Kent, and twice on the Ormesby 

 broads, is placed close to the water, upon a mass of half-decaj-ed leaf and broken 

 reed-stalk, amongst the growing reed-stems ; it is an open cup-shaped structure, 

 and has a coarse appearance for the nest of so small a bird, the outside walls 

 being formed of loosel}- interlaced dead leaves of sedges, reeds, and broad- grasses: 

 the lining consisting entirely of the feather}'^ top of the reed. 



The Kentish nest, placed upon a small floating island of reeds, in a large 

 pond at Kemsley (where " Reed-Pheasants " were formerl}' common) was perfect ; 

 but probably abandoned, for it contained no eggs: doubtless the j^oung had flown, 

 inasmuch as it was late in May ; and. according to Mr. Stevenson, the full clutch 



