THE LONG-TAILED TITMOUSE 



ACREDULA ROSEA 



LOCAL names in surrounding counties : " Bottle-Tit," 

 "Oven-Tit," "Pudding-Poke," "Bottle-Tom" (Essex). 



STATUS IN BRITISH AVIFAUNA : A common and widely 

 distributed resident in wooded districts, becoming more 

 local in Scotland and Ireland. 



RADIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 

 PAUL'S : This pretty bird is another fitful visitor during 

 autumn and winter to the innermost parts of the Metro- 

 polis, more frequently observed in private grounds, shrub- 

 beries, and enclosures of small trees than amongst the 

 larger timber. There are few such spots in which it may 

 not be met with from Kensington Gardens, Regent's 

 Park, and Battersea Park outwards. As the suburbs 

 become more rural and well-shrubbed grounds more 

 plentiful the Long-tailed Titmouse may be observed 

 more frequently. How close to the city it actually 

 nests it is perhaps difficult to say. It is recorded as 

 doing so at Dulwich, and very possibly in the Tooting 

 and Norwood districts. It certainly breeds at Wimbledon 

 and Richmond, Bushey, Hounslow, and Osterley, whilst 

 northwards I trace it through Ruislip Woods, Pinner, 

 Horsenden, Sudbury, and Wembley. It also nests in 

 the districts of Harrow, Mill Hill, Barnet, Enfield, Wal- 

 tham, Epping, Wanstead, and Ilford, and across the 

 river in the Grays, Bromley, Beckenham, Croydon, Car- 

 shalton, and Sutton. In the more remote districts it is 

 of course more generally dispersed, and in many cases 

 nests in comparatively public spots. 



Of all the British species the Long-tailed Titmouse is 

 the most restless and wandering in its disposition. Ex- 

 cept during the breeding season, the birds in parties are 

 roaming the countryside, and only appearing fitfully in 

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