234 THE BEARDED-TIT 



solable until a small looking-glass was placed in his cage, when he at 

 once appeared perfectly happy, taking his food and nestling close to 

 the glass, uttering a series of soft low musical notes eminently ex- 

 pressive of happiness. 1 



My two males continued to live in perfect concord until the end 

 of April, when I was asked if I would take charge of a hen bearded- 

 tit and let her loose in Broadland. I one day called for this hen and 

 let her loose in my aviary with the two cocks. There was immediate 

 discord. One of the cocks was exceedingly handsome and in splendid 

 plumage, the other had lost his tail and was generally unkempt. The 

 hen showed decided preference for the handsome male, and at once 

 began preening herself with a very self-conscious air, and an evident 

 desire to please. The tailless male was driven into a corner, and so 

 severely handled that he had to be rescued from the clutches of his 

 handsome rival. Having finished her toilet operations, the female 

 began to execute a curious dance, while her lover at once commenced 

 to court her assiduously in the manner hereafter described. Three 

 days later I went to Hickling, carrying with me all three birds, the 

 pair in one cage, and the single male in another. It was a calm and 

 beautiful evening when I arrived, so, uncovering the cages, I placed 

 them on the top of my house-boat. When the captive birds heard the 

 call-note of their own species they became wildly excited, beating 

 themselves violently against the bars of their prisons, making such 

 desperate struggles to regain their freedom that I quickly released 

 them. They rose some distance into the air with loud resonant call- 

 note, then dropped into the reed-beds, and I saw them no more. 

 There was abundance of food, so that I had no hesitation in turn- 

 ing these little Dutch captives adrift. Sometimes these birds feed 

 largely on a destructive grub which burrows into and destroys the 

 reeds ; it also hunts for tiny mollusca amongst the ooze. In windy 

 weather the reed-pheasant is seldom seen on the wing, but keeps 

 to the sheltered reed-beds, where they probably find abundance of 



1 Field, 1883, 310. 



