142 Thk Bearded Reedlixg. 



says that " it lias 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 Tartary ; 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 incessant search after its nest and 

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

 chiefly 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 and concise that 

 I cannot do better than quote it : — 



" The adult male has the crown bluish- grey ; 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 bufifish-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 yellow; 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 merely duller than 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, fens, and marshes ; and, to my mind, is 

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

 the same time it does not, as might be expected, belong to that family ; 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 loosely interlaced dead leaves of sedges, reeds, and broad-grasses: 

 the lining consisting entirely of the feathery 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 formerly common) was perfect ; 

 but probably abandoned, for it contained no eggs: doubtless the young had flown, 

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



