THE BEARDED REEDLING 4B 
of each other’s company. A writer in the Magazine of Natural 
History gives the following account of their habits :—‘ I was told that 
some of these birds had been seen in a large piece of reeds below 
Barking Creek; and being desirous of observing them in their 
haunts, I went, accompanied by a person and a dog, to the above- 
named place, on a cold and windy morning; the reed-cutters 
having commenced their operations, I was fearful of deferring my 
visit, lest my game might be driven away. Arrived on our ground, 
we traversed it some time without success, and were about to leave 
it, when our attention was roused by the alarm-cry of the bird. 
Looking up, we saw eight or ten of these beautiful creatures on 
the wing, just topping the reeds over our heads, uttering, in full 
chorus, their forcibly musical note, which resembles the monosy]- 
lable ping / pronounced first slow and single, then two or three 
times in a more hurried manner, uttered in a clear and ringing, 
though soft tone, which well corresponds with the beauty and 
delicacy of the bird. Their flights were short and low, only sufficient 
to clear the reeds, on the seedy tops of which they alight to feed, 
hanging, like most of their tribe, with the head and back down- 
wards. After some time, we were fortunate enough to shoot 
one, a male, in fine plumage. I held it in my hand when scarcely 
dead. Nothing could exceed the beauty of the eye; the bright 
orange of the iris, surrounded by the deep glossy black of the 
moustaches and streak above, receives additional briliancy from 
the contrast, and struck me as a masterpiece of colour and neatness.’ 
These specimens were observed in the month of December. To- 
wards the end fof April the Bearded Tit begins building its nest. 
This is composed externally of the dead leaves of reeds and sedges, 
and lined with the feathery tops of reed. It is generally placed 
in a tuft of coarse grass or rushes near the ground on the margin 
of the dikes, in the fen; sometimes among the reeds that are 
broken down, but never suspended between the stems. Two nests, 
described by Yarrell, were composed entirely of dried bents, the 
finer ones forming the lining ; and others, increasing in substance, 
made uptheexterior. The eggs were from seven to eight in number, 
rather smaller than those of the Great Tit, and less pointed, white, 
and sparingly marked with pale red lines or scratches. The same 
author observes that ‘ it is very abundant in Holland ; and numbers 
are brought alive from that country to the London markets for sale ; 
the birds being attractive in confinement from the beauty of the 
plumage, their graceful form and general sprightliness.’ I have seen it 
stated that the moustaches, from which the bird takes its name, are 
movable, and that their play gives a peculiar animation to the ex- 
pression of the bird’s face, but I have never had an opportunity of 
verifying this remark, They have been increasing in the Norfolk 
Broads of late years. 
