THE BEARDED TITMOUSE. 287 



Esteemed sacred by the peasants. 



resembles a bag, and sometimes a short purse. 

 The aperture is made in the side, and is almost 

 always turned towards the water: it is nearly 

 round, and only an inch and a half in diameter, 

 or even less, and is commonly surrounded by a 

 brim more or less protuberant ; this, however, is 

 sometimes wanting. These are seen in the fens 

 of Bologna, in those of Tuscany, Lithuania, Po- 

 land, and Germany. The peasants regard them 

 with superstitious veneration : one of them is 

 usually suspended near the door of each cottage ; 

 arid the possessors esteem it a defence against 

 thunder, and its little architect as a sacred bird. 



THE BEARDED TITMOUSE. 



THIS species is not so large as the common 

 titmouse, the bill is thick and short, of a yellow- 

 ish colour; the head is of a dark ash-colour, with 

 a tuft of feathers that begin at the base of the 

 bill, and are continued beyond the eyes, which, 

 hang down upon the sides of the neck in a sort 

 of picked, triangular form ; from which it is said 

 to take the name of beard-manica. The back, 

 wings, and upper part of the body are brown, 

 the breast and lower parts of a yellowish white, 

 shaded with a dusky brown; the outer fea- 

 thers on each wing are white, with two remark-* 

 able white spots on the upper coverts. The tail 

 is of a b^own. colour, about two inches long. 



