THE BEARDED TIT. 159 



from the pure love 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. Look- 

 ing 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 monosyllable 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 corre- 

 sponds 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 brilliancy from the contrast, and struck 

 me as a masterpiece of colour and neatness." These spe- 

 cimens were observed in the month of December. Towards 

 the end of 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 



