92 



THE BIRDS OF ESSEX. 



among the reeds at Tollesbury in September, 1858. Mr. Ambrose tells me that Dr. 

 Maclean once shot three among the reeds beside the river Colne, near Marriage's 

 Mill at Colchester. These are probably the three specimens still in the Museum, 

 as Dr. Laver recollects Dr. Maclean telling him that he shot them himself in the 

 neighbourhood, and that they were formerly not uncommon. They are very 

 nicely preserved, probably by Dr. Maclean himself. 



It is not improbable that the Bearded Tit may still be reckoned as a resident in 

 Essex, though undoubtedly a very scarce one ; for on July 12th, 1888, Mr. Edward 

 Taylor, of Bishop's Stortford, saw a male in a large reed patch on the Herts side of 

 the River Stort, near that town. He had a close view of the bird, as it rested 

 on the top of a bulrush, and was able clearly to distinguish the long tail and black 

 moustache. Mr. Taylor writes me : " 1 could not possibly be mistaken, as I was 

 not more than a dozen yards from it. I went to the spot once or twice after- 

 wards, but never saw it again. It might, however, have been near me at the 

 time, as the bed of osiers wag a large one, and the reeds thick." Mr, Hope, too, 

 has a male shot on Dec. 24th, 1885, no further off than the King's Fleet, an arm 

 of the River Deben, near Felixstowe, in Suffolk, not more than about two miles 

 from the Essex border. A female was seen at the same spot in Feb., 1886. The 

 fact of the Bearded Tit actually breeding in Essex at this day still, however, 

 remains to be demonstrated. 



Family PARID^©. 



Long-tailed Tit : Acredula caudata-rosea. Locally, " Bottle- 

 tit," " Oven-builder," " Oven-tit," and " Pudding-poke," also "Bottle- 

 torn," and " Long-tom-capon-bones " (E. A. F.). 



A common resident. The British form of this species differs 

 from the White-headed form (A. caudata), which is usual on the 

 Continent, but is only sub-specifically distinct. The latter has 



probably occurred 

 in the county, as it 

 occasionally strag- 

 gles to Britain, but 

 I am not aware 

 that it has been ac- 

 tually observed.* 



Mr. Joseph Clarke, 

 writing in 1854, noted 

 (24) that it had been 

 " very rare of late," 

 round Saffron Walden. 

 Round Orsett, where it 

 is known as the " Bottle Tit " or " Oven-builder," it is uncommon (Sackett). 



LONG-TAILED TITS, 1/5. 



* There is, however, in the Colchester Museum Collection a specimen of this form which was 

 probably killed in the neighbourhood, though nothing definite is known about it. Very likely 

 it was stuffed and presented by Dr. Maclean. It appears to be intermediate between the true 

 A. caudata and the British form, as the head is not wholly white. 



