A HISTORY OF KENT 



4 November 1894, Mr. Thomas Weston of 

 Standen House, Benenden, observed a bird 

 which flew close to him. It was shot at, but 

 not obtained. A few days afterwards he 

 identified the bird as the same as some dip- 

 pers, obtained in Scotland, in Mr. Springett's 

 shop in Cranbrook. The country below 

 Benenden is not at all an unlikely locality 

 for one of these birds, since there are several 

 running streams that find their way into the 

 Rother. 



33. Bearded Tit or Reedling. Panurus biar- 



micus (Linn.) 



Many years ago the bearded tit or reed- 

 pheasant ceased to exist in Kent, and there 

 is now no likelihood of its ever returning 

 owing to the drainage of our marshes and 

 reedy places, while the constant cutting over 

 of the reeds affords these shy birds no asylums 

 for their nests. Formerly it was a resident. 

 In the second edition of his British Ornith- 

 5%y, published in 1 821, Graves writes: 'The 

 bearded titmouse is found in considerable 

 abundance in the extensive tracts of reedland 

 from Woolwich to Erith in Kent' ; while 

 in the days of Dr. Plomley of Lydd (about 

 1840), whose collection of Kent birds is now 

 in the Dover Museum, ' the reed-pheasant 

 was occasionally found in Romney Marsh ' 

 (Bartlett, Zoo/. 1884, p. 621). Mr. George 

 Dowker, writing in 1889, says, 'the Rev. B. 

 Austin shot one in the Monkton Marshes some 

 years ago.' In 1 865 three specimens, one male 

 and two females, were shot at Burham near 

 Maidstone (Prentis). Before that time it 

 probably ceased to breed in the county. 

 In my collection I have a pair obtained 

 from Romney Marsh in 1844, and by the 

 worn condition of the female's plumage these 

 birds had evidently bred that year in the 

 marsh. 



34. Long-tailed Tit. Acredula caudata{h\nn.) 

 Locally, Bottle Tit, Muffle Tit. 



A common resident. From October on- 

 wards small parties of these birds may fre- 

 quently be observed threading their way 

 through our larch plantations and copses. By 

 the time March has come these parties have 

 paired off and then resort much to orchards, 

 where they often select the lichened boughs of 

 the apple trees for their nests. An example 

 of the typical A. catidata, distinguished from 

 our British bird by the entire head being 

 white, was obtained near Dover Castle by 

 Mr. Gordon and is now in the collection of 

 Mr. Walter Prentis of Rainham, where I 

 have seen it. 



35. Great Tit. Parus major, Linn. 



The great tit, locally known as ' ox-eye,' 

 is very common throughout the county. It 

 begins to utter its shrill staccato note, like the 

 whetting of a saw, very early in the year, if the 

 weather is mild, becoming very persistent in 

 March. Curious nesting sites are frequently 

 chosen by this tit. On more than one occa- 

 sion in the Cranbrook neighbourhood I have 

 found the nest built in an old squirrel's drey ; 

 but holes in fruit trees are for the most part 

 chosen, the birds often returning to the same 

 nesting site in several successive seasons till 

 the nesting material collected together assumes 

 great proportions. A nest taken at Bedge- 

 bury in 1896, built in a disused pheasant's 

 coop, was of remarkable dimensions shaped 

 like a square block of well-felted moss. 



36. Coal-Tit. Parus ater, Linn. 

 Locally, Blackcap. 



Locally distributed. Where the marsh-tit 

 is present this species is generally absent. 

 This I think is due to the pugnacity and 

 quarrelsome nature of the marsh-tit. The 

 coal-tit is a retiring bird and keeps much to 

 our fir plantations, especially during the 

 breeding season, while the marsh-tit may 

 often be found nesting in our gardens. 



37. Marsh-Tit. Parus palustris, Linn. 



A common resident. The nesting site of 

 this species varies according to the nature of 

 the locality. About Cranbrook holes in 

 pollard willows close to running water and 

 in other decayed trees (often bored by the 

 bird itself) are generally selected. In the 

 Rainham district low stubbs in the woods are 

 taken for nesting sites (Prentis). Both this 

 and the preceding species very often nest in 

 holes in the ground. 



This bird has been known to conceal her 

 eggs before commencing incubation should 

 her nest be in the vicinity of any disturbing 

 influence. In May 1896, in a garden near 

 Cranbrook, this tit built its nest in an old 

 decayed laburnum, close to a spot where 

 rubbish was continually being deposited. The 

 nest, when I found it, contained two eggs 

 which were carefully covered over and con- 

 cealed with a thin layer of hair and wool, 

 felted together. The next morning the three 

 eggs were similarly treated. After the full 

 complement were laid incubation commenced 

 and the young eventually hatched. 



This tit is also, like the coal-tit, locally 

 called ' blackcap.' 



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