BEARDED TITMOUSE. 105 



the neighbourhood of its nesting haunts, are native birds 

 and not migrants. It is somewhat remarkable that of the 

 earlier records of this species appertaining to Yorkshire no 

 example has actually been obtained, and, owing to this unsatis- 

 factory condition of affairs, its status is of a very uncertain 

 character. 



Thomas Allis, in 1844, wrote : 



Calamophilus biarmicus. Bearded Tit The only notice I have of 

 this bird is from Wm. Eddison who says, ' It is not very common near 

 Huddersfield. I do not recollect to have seen more than three or 

 four living specimens. I had a dispute with a collector, who asserted 

 they were common, but those he saw proved to be the long-tailed 

 and not the bearded." 



Mr. Mark Booth of Killerby recorded (Zool. 1845, p. 1135) 

 that he " observed a fine male close to Kirkleatham Hospital, 

 three or four years ago." 



" A more interesting statement was made by Charles 

 Waterton, who informed Mr. A. J. More that a pair once 

 built by the side of the lake at Walton Hall (Ibis, 1865) ; 

 and it is also reported to have occurred at Scarthingwell 

 (J. Chaloner MS. 1880). 



Of these three occurrences Waterton' s is the only one 

 on which any reliance can be placed, and his residence, Walton 

 Hall, is the most northerly point in the British Isles at which 

 this species can with certainty be said to have occurred. 



Mr. Kenneth McLean sends the following report to the 

 Naturalist (1901, p. 230) : " On 28th June 1901, by the 

 side of Hornsea Mere, my attention was attracted by a soft 

 musical ' tweet ' amongst the rushes, which was new to me. 

 .... Eventually I climbed into a stunted tree, and, after 

 remaining perfectly still for some time, was rewarded by 

 seeing a pair of old Bearded Reedlings and at least three 

 young ones. ... I watched them for ten minutes or more, 

 the soft rich colouring, especially of the old male, blending 

 beautifully with the light green of the reeds and grasses by 

 which they were surrounded. They were shy, retiring quickly 

 down amongst the plants when alarmed, but still they did not 

 seem to be particularly wild, as they came quite near to me." 



