A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE 



may with equal probability have been killed 

 in either county. An enquiry made with a 

 view to determine the point only proved that 

 it was shot near the village. 



The present species has been reported to 

 have visited the Malvern Hills, but there is no 

 mention of it in the list compiled by Lees. 



29. Dipper. Cinc/us aquaticus, Bechstein. 



So long ago as 1834 Sir Charles Hastings 

 wrote of the dipper as ' of unfrequent occur- 

 rence ' in the county; and Lees, in 1870, 

 reports it as ' becoming rare ' in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Malvern. It is still by no means 

 scarce on the tributaries of the Severn and 

 Teme on the Herefordshire side of Wor- 

 cestershire, on some of which it nests annu- 

 ally. In 1896 there was a nest on the Teme 

 within two miles of Worcester. In other 

 parts of the county it is much less common. 

 Occasionally, but only very occasionally, one 

 is shot on one or other of the small streams 

 which feed the Avon, and some have been 

 seen in very immature plumage on the Avon, 

 leaving no doubt that they were bred there. 



[Bearded Reedling. Panurus hiarmicus 

 (Linn.). 

 Locally, Bearded Tit. 



This bird can only be mentioned as a pro- 

 bable former inhabitant of Worcestershire, and 

 the ground for the belief that it did at one 

 time frequent some parts of the county may 

 be briefly stated as follows : It has been traced 

 up the Thames into Gloucestershire and the 

 upper reaches of the river are fed by stream- 

 lets which pass through parts of Worcester- 

 shire, in which, where reeds grow, the bird 

 would find suitable haunts. In the second 

 edition of Pennant's British Zoology, the 

 author relates having seen the bearded tit 

 near Gloucester, and it is more than merely 

 probable, therefore, that the reed beds of the 

 Severn and its tributaries would be frequented 

 by it.] 



30. Long-tailed Tit. Acredula caudata (hinn.). 

 This is one of the numerous birds found in 



our county, which, though hardly to be styled 

 rare, is nevertheless not often seen in places 

 where years ago it was common. Its beautiful 

 nest is so conspicuous that, except in very 

 little-frequented districts it stands no chance 

 of escaping notice and destruction. The nests 

 are still brought into the Worcester market 

 for sale as curiosities, in spite of the Wild 

 Bird Acts. 



31. Great Tit. Pants major, Linn. 



The great tit is a bird which can well take 

 care of himself, and there is no danger of the 

 species becoming a rarity. No food is more 



to his taste than the seeds of the sunflower. 

 Years ago that handsome plant might be seen 

 in almost every garden, and this bird, as well 

 as the blue tit, fed freely on its ripened seeds, 

 but for a long period the sunflower was but 

 rarely grown. Quite recently, however, it 

 has again made its appearance, though not 

 so abundantly as formerly, and the tits are 

 again busy in the autumn with the great disc- 

 shaped heads. Nuts also at that season are 

 much relished by the great tit, but their 

 kernels are difficult of access. The heads of 

 the garden poppy are often broken into by 

 this bird, not however to reach the seed, 

 but for the earwigs which are always con- 

 cealed in them. The rough stone walls 

 around the village of South Littleton furnish 

 very favourite nesting-places for this tit, 

 where however their eggs or young are not 

 infrequently destroyed by mice. 



32. Coal-Tit. Parus ater, Linn. 



Of all our tits, excepting the long-tailed 

 tit, the present species is the least common in 

 Worcestershire ; and from the circumstance 

 that the nest is very rarely if ever found in 

 the county, it seems probable that it is only a 

 winter visitor to us. In the southern coun- 

 ties it is far more abundant at all seasons. It 

 is a shy bird, having but little if any of 

 the impudence which is so conspicuous in 

 some of the tits, giving way to all the other 

 species when food is put out for their use in 

 the winter. The coal-tit is not infrequently 

 seen in the company of the goldcrest searching 

 the tops of coppice trees and overgrown hedge- 

 rows. 



33. Marsh-Tit. Parus palustris, Linn. 

 Second in degree of infrequency in the 



county is the marsh-tit, and it is most com- 

 monly seen in small companies in woods, 

 coppices and brakes, and not often near 

 houses and homesteads. A nest of which 

 I made a particular examination, was in the 

 soft touchwood of a pollard withy tree ; the 

 hole which contained it having been exca- 

 vated by the pair of birds, which I watched 

 bringing out the fragments of decayed wood. 



34. Blue Tit. Parus caruleus, Linn. 



This is one of the birds which can adapt 

 itself to such varying conditions that there is 

 no probability of its becoming rare, or even 

 fewer in number, besides which it appears to 

 be a prolific species. A pair of these birds 

 took possession of the letter-box at the house 

 where the present writer at one time dwelt, 

 and having constructed a nest in it an egg 

 was laid. The nest and egg were removed 



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