227 



the roots of a tussock of rushes, in a field of marsh hay. In wet 

 seasons the nests are liable to be submerged, in which case a second 

 nest is built on the top of the old one. As a rule the nest is neatly 

 concealed, but on a still day the movements of the parent bird when 

 flushed can be detected by the rustling and swaying of the reeds stems, 

 and the site approximately located. The materials used consist chiefly 

 of dead leaves of reeds, sedges, or sometimes flat grasses, with a lining 

 of the flowery tops of the reed and finer grass leaves. A feather or 

 two is not unfrequently found in the lining, and J. M. Goodall found a 

 nest lined with white down, probably that of a call Duck. The cup of 

 the nest is about 2 s in. in diameter. It is usual to find the same locality 

 occupied by a breeding pair year after year. 



Generally 5 — 7 in number, occasionally 8 or 9. Instances have ^*f^'- 

 been recorded where 10, 11 and 12 eggs have been found in a single 

 nest, but there is little doubt that they are the produce of two hens. 

 Booth relates an instance where a hen whose mate he had shot, proceeded 

 to lay in the nest of another pair not far awav, which already contained 

 6 eggs, till 11 had been laid. In confinement they will also lay together 

 without quarrelling, and are very prolific. Thus two hens kept by J. 

 Young laid about 50 eggs in one season ! He observed that after laying 

 the lining was pulled over the eggs on leaving the nest by the hen, as 

 in the genus Parus. Possibly it is owing to this that one or two eggs 

 may often be found completely buried in the lining of the nest. They 

 are quite characteristic: white, with some gloss, sparsely marked with 

 fine scrawls, streaks and spots of liver brown. In shape they are a 

 rounded ovate, some eggs being almost spherical. 



In Norfolk nesting begins in March, and the first eggs are laid Breeding 

 about April 7 or 8, but chiefly in the third week of the month. (In Reason. 

 1903 M. C. H. Bird found a nest with 3 eggs on April 3, and a nest 

 from which young had flown has been seen at the beginning of May). 

 There is no doubt that three and possibly four broods are reared in a 

 season under favourable circumstances, as young have been seen still in 

 the nest in September both in England and Holland, and Booth found 

 eggs on August 16. Both sexes incubate, and the duration of the period 

 is about 14 days. 



Average size of 106 Norfolk eggs (83 by the writer and 23 by Rey), Moasure- 

 17.22x13.91 mm., Max. 19x15, Min. 14.5x13.2 and 15.8x13 mm. "'"*'• 

 Average weight, 108 mg., varying from 95 to 135 mg. (Key). 



b. Eastern Bearded Tit, P. biarmicus russicus (Brehm). 



Egg: Taczanowski, Tab. LIV, fig. 2. 

 F. biarmicus russicus (Brehm). Hartert, Vog. Pal. Fauna, p. 405. 



15* 



