THE BEARDED-TIT ' - 



[OBDEB: Pdsseriformes. FAMILY: Panuridce] 

 PKELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 



[F. C. B. JOTJRDAIN. W. P. PYCBAFT. A. L. THOMSON. E. L. TUBNER] 



B E A R D E D-T I T [Panurus biarmicus (Linnaeus). Bearded - reedling, 

 reed-pheasant, marsh-pheasant. French, mesange a moustaches ; German, 

 Bartmeise ; Italian, basettind], 



I. Description. The bearded-tit may easily be recognised by the small 

 yellow beak, the general orange-tawny hue of the plumage, and the long, rounded 

 tail. There is no seasonal change of plumage, but the male differs conspicuously 

 from the female. (PI. 67.) Length 6'75 in. [171 mm.]. The male has the crown of the 

 head bluish grey, shading into pearl-grey on the ear-coverts and side of the neck. 

 A black patch from the lores extends backwards so as partly to encircle the eye, 

 when it joins a long loose tuft of lanceolate feathers, forming a pointed " mous- 

 tache." From the nape backwards to the rump the plumage is of an orange- tawny 

 hue, but the tail-coverts and the three outer pairs of tail-feathers have white ends 

 and blackish bases. The scapulars show a hoary whitish band along the outer 

 border, while the wing-coverts are black, margined with rufous, but the inner 

 major coverts and inner secondaries have a median band of black, and the second- 

 aries have the inner web white, forming a band on each side of the body. The outer 

 webs of the primaries are white. The under parts are greyish white with a rosy 

 tinge, passing into orange tawny on the flanks and sandy buff on the abdomen, 

 which contrasts with the black under tail-coverts. The beak and iris are of pale 

 yellow, and the legs are black. The female is not so brightly coloured as the male, 

 lacks the blue and pearl-grey on the head, the black moustache, and the black 

 under tail-coverts ; the back is commonly more or less distinctly marked with 

 narrow longitudinal lines of black. In immature birds these lines are conspicu- 

 ous, and are supplemented by similar lines on the crown. The juvenile plumage 

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