226 THE BEARDED-TIT 



Arunclo phracrmitis, and lined with the same plant's brown feathery 

 panicles. One which Mr. Pycraft examined " Contained also feathers 

 of swan, mallard, water-hen, and snipe" ; * another, noted in the Field, 2 

 was composed entirely of the panicle ; but these are not typical. The 

 nest is placed quite low down, only a few inches above the water-line, 

 and amidst the densest cover, so that it is admirably sheltered also 

 from inclement weather, and from the ravages of birds of prey. Both 

 sexes assist in building, but frequently the feathery lining is added 

 by the male after the first egg is laid ; in fact, he often does quite two- 

 thirds of the work. Both take turns in brooding, and are equally 

 diligent in feeding the young ; but individual birds vary considerably 

 in temperament. 



Sometimes nothing will induce the male to face a camera. The 

 first pair I ever photographed caused me great amusement. Both 

 were timorous, and for some time watched my shelter from a distance, 

 clinging to the reed-stalks, and talking to one another. Finally the 

 male caught a fly, gave it to his mate, and literally drove her to the 

 nest, using wings and beak to emphasise his orders. Eventually 

 the hen came slipping mouse-like through the sedges ; not alighting 

 on a tall reed and climbing down, as is their usual method if undis- 

 turbed. After a while her nervousness vanished, and she fed her 

 brood diligently : but during that day and the next only once did 

 her mate accompany her while I was there; though I often heard 

 him climb up the side of my tent, in order to inspect its occupant, 

 and sometimes caught him peeping through a thin place in its reed- 

 thatched exterior. Curiously enough, out of twelve plates exposed, 

 the one depicting both birds together was the only successful photo- 

 graph : for when my camera was uncovered at the end of the day, 

 the bellows had become detached owing to damp, and all the 

 other plates were fogged. On another occasion, however, a male 

 which had lost his mate showed absolutely no concern ; he had 

 double work to do, and there was no room for fear in his strenuous little 



1 British Bh-ds, vol. ii. No. 2, p. 58. 2 Field, vol. cii. p. 722. 



