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THE BEARDED TIT OR REEDLING. 

 (Panurus bidrmicuL*.) 



THE Bearded Tit is the ornament of the Reed-lands. Its 

 feathers being unusually fine and light, the brilliant black 

 moustache gives it all the more charming and attractive 

 an appearance. It usually slips round in the high reeds 

 about which it clambers very cleverly. The nest is 

 placed between the stalks of the reeds, and is composed 

 chiefly of their leaves, the colour of which harmonises 

 with that of the bird's long tail, so that the latter, which 

 stands out of the nest, cannot be distinguished from its 

 surroundings. The clutch consists of five to seven eggs, 

 which have light brown specks and stripes on a white 

 ground. 



With the disappearance of the reeds, the number of 

 the birds diminishes. 



That is why we have not in England so many of this 

 lovely species as we used to have. Our fens and meres 

 in Lincoln, Huntingdon, and Cambridge Shires, as well 

 as in Kent, Sussex, and Essex, also in Suffolk having 

 been drained, the birds that lived in these have natur- 

 ally left them. We are glad, however, to know that 

 Bearded Tits are increasing again in the Norfolk 

 Broads, owing to protection from the greed of private 

 collectors. The great naturalist, Buffon, declared that 

 the male bird has the charming habit of covering his 

 mate with his wings to protect her alike from unkind 

 winds and the burning heat of the sun, as she sits on her 

 nest. Trinkin, the peasants of Anjon call it because of 

 the metallic tone of its cry. In the Norfolk Broads it 

 has been known as the Reed Pheasant. Scientists have 



