224 THE BEARDED-TIT 



THE BEARDED-TIT 

 [E. L. TURNER] 



There is probably no species which has so benefited by the Wild 

 Birds Protection Acts as the bearded-tit ; for, owing to its restricted 

 breeding area, this bird was at one time threatened with extinction. 



Mr. J. H. Gurney, writing in 1899, gave " an approximate estimate 

 of its decrease in five decennial years " as follows : 



1848 1858 1868 1878 1888 1898 

 160 140 125 90 45 33 



This steady diminution he attributed to the " gradual growing up of 

 the Broads, and to the systematic trade in bearded-tits' eggs." l 



Fortunately the egg trade can now only be carried on secretly ; 

 and the natural shrinkage of the open water has, in fact, meant vaster 

 reed-beds, enough to afford these birds ample food and cover for 

 years to come. Therefore, if the bearded - tits are rigorously pro- 

 tected now, why should they not in the near future increase so rapidly 

 that their breeding area will naturally have to widen itself? 



From my own experience I have no hesitation in saying that the 

 bearded-tit has steadily increased in numbers during the last decade. 

 In 1909 I knew of seventeen nests within one small area, which, at 

 any rate, hatched off in safety, whatever may have been the ultimate 

 fate of the fledglings. 



Mr. Gurney's careful estimate for 1898, which resulted in thirty- 

 three nests only, was based on returns from no less than twenty-two 

 Broads. So that, if seventeen broods were reared in about a fifth of the 

 area of the one reed-bed I am personally acquainted with, it is fairly 

 safe to argue that the total numbers in one Broad alone must in 1910 

 have been largely in excess of the aggregate for twenty-two Broads in 

 1898. Nevertheless, too much care cannot be exercised in combating 



1 Trans. Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society, vol. ix. p. 431. 



