122 HALF-HOURS IN THE GREEK LAKES. 



you in the lurch. You have been annoyed, when 

 you were older, by seeing those daring birds daintily 

 feeding on the young buds whose development you 

 were so anxiously awaiting. 



The Bearded Tit (Panurus biarmicus) is an allied 

 species, not near so common 

 as the above. If you are 

 in Norfolk you may see it 

 among the reeds of some 

 tarn or " broad," running 

 up and down with surpris- 

 ing agility. Its habitat, 

 and the long pair of black 

 moustaches which give to it 

 its name cannot fail to help 

 you in its identification. In 

 Cambridgeshire it is toler- 



The Bearded Tit. , , 



ably common, and you may 



also find it haunting the banks of the Thames. Per- 

 haps you may find as the companions of the bearded 

 tit those singular and now rather rare birds the RufT 

 and Reeve (Machetes pugnax) ; for they are limited to 

 almost the same localities. It is the male bird to 

 which the common name of " ruff " is given, in 

 allusion to the collar of feathers or hackles round 

 the neck, which are generally distended during the 

 breeding season, like those of cocks when fighting. 

 The- reeve, therefore, is only the female bird, more 

 sober- looking and devoid of any ornaments of this 

 kind. As both the Greek and Latin names of this 



