OF THE BEARDED TIT 167 



tively lately a regular breeder there, no longer 'guards 

 his nest ' among the sedges and reeds ; and Ruffs and 

 Reeves are as rare as they once were common. But 

 there is one little bird which, driven from every other 

 part of England, has made the Broads his own 

 peculiar property, and himself thoroughly at home 

 there. Hardy and modest in his wants, the Bearded 

 Tit has been essentially a home-staying bird. His 

 ancestors seem to have elected, generations ago, that, 

 whatever the advantage of a winter in Algeria, the 

 disadvantages were greater, and that, on the whole, it 

 was better to face the evils that they knew than fly 

 to others that they knew not of. 



The 'developments' of the family ever since the 

 decision was made have been in a direction to fit them 

 for a quiet life among the reed-beds. Other birds, 

 smaller even than they, whose forefathers were of a 

 different opinion, have wings now so perfected that, 

 when soft animal food fails in England, they think 

 nothing of a flight of a few hundred miles to a sunnier 

 spot where fat insects may still be found. 



The Bearded Tit, with his little round wings and the 

 heavy canvas of his long tail, cannot do what they can. 

 But he can do what they cannot, and make the most of 

 what is to be got in the way of food at home. 



In the swampy grounds from which mXreed-beds 

 grow are quantities of very small snails. Some early 

 ancestor, feeling the pinch of hunger, ventured experi- 

 mentally to pick one up and ate it, and finding out the 

 sustaining qualities of the rich inside meat, brought up 



