OVER THE BROADS AND SWAMPS. 187 



upturned bill ; and the charming Black Tern 

 that returned each season with the spring. All 

 are gone banished now for ever from their 

 watery solitudes, and their names have become 

 only memories, forgotten even by most folk, yet 

 lovingly kept green in the calendar of the 

 naturalist and the student of British Birds. 



In spite, however, of the serious loss the 

 naturalist has sustained by the banishment of 

 so many species of exceptional interest, there 

 are still many birds upon the Broads to engage 

 his attention. Summer and winter alike these 

 places teem with bird life, and some of the most 

 local species have their haunt and habitation on 

 them. We will glance at the few peculiar land 

 birds first. Rarest and most local of them all 

 is the BEARDED REEDLING (Panurus biarmicus). Principally 

 No other British bird can easily be confused of Norfolk. 

 with the Bearded Reedling the slate-gray head treed 

 and black moustachial lines of the male ; the Mr! 

 rufous brown upper plumage, the pinkish under- 

 parts, and the long, tawny tail of both sexes, 

 distinguish it from all other species. Its haunt 

 is in the reed thickets, where it may be seen 

 hopping from stem to stem, or passing through 

 the forest of stalks with amazing speed ; some- 

 times crossing the narrow canals of water in 

 dipping uncertain flight from one bed to another, 

 or fluttering above the purple tops of the reeds 

 for a fleeting moment, then dropping down again 

 into the cover. Its notes are very like those 

 of the Titmice ping-ping, or hee-rr, hee-rr. In 

 autumn family parties of Reedlings may be met 

 with among the withering reeds, and then, per- 

 haps, its actions are most engaging. Although 



