Food of the Bearded Titmouse. 239 
Art. V. Notice of a Discovery respecting the Food of the Bearded 
Titmouse (Parus bidrmicus Lin.). By W. H. Dies, Esq. 
Sir, 
ConsIDERING it to be incumbent on the cultivators of 
natural history to make public any observation which ma 
tend to the correction of prevailing errors, I take the liberty 
of communicating, through the medium of your userul pub- 
lication a discovery, of a ‘trivial nature indeed, but one which 
appears to have escaped the notice of ornithological writers. 
I allude to the food of the Bearded Titmouse (Parus biarmi- 
cus Lin.). ‘This is stated, in all the descriptions which I have 
consulted, to be the seeds of aquatic plants. Having, how- 
ever, lately had an opportunity of examining three specimens, 
I find that this account is erroneous; the crop did not contain 
a single seed, but, on the contrary, was completely filled with 
the Succinea amphibia in a perfect state, the shell being un- 
broken. ‘These shells were singularly closely packed together, 
the crop of one, which was not large ey than a hazel nut, con- 
taining twenty, and some of them of a good size; it contained 
also four of the Pupa muscorum. Of. all these Molltisca the 
shell was quite uninjured ; which, when the fragile nature of 
that of the Succinea is considered, is somewhat Ate aordinary. 
The shell appears to be passed into the stomach in the same 
perfect state, as I discovered one which I presume had been 
recently swallowed, quite entire. They are not, however, 
voided in this state, for I found the stomach to be full Of 
small fragments of shell, in a greater or less degree of decom- 
position. This work of destruction is accomplished by the 
action of the stomach, aided by the trituration of numerous 
sharp angular fragments of quartz, which had been instinct- 
ively sw allow ed, and by which the minute division of the shells 
is most completely effected. Wishing you much success in 
your useful undertaking, I remain, Sir, &c. 
Hull, Jan. 7. 1830. W. H. DiKeEs. 
Art. VI. Notice of the Plumage of the Bearded Titmouse when a 
young Bird. By the Rev. J. LAKes. 
Sir, 
Tue interesting remarks on the Bearded Titmouse (Parus 
biarmicus) in Vol. IL. p- 222. induce me to mention, that, 
during a visit about three or four years since at Yarmouth in 
Norfolk, I had an opportunity of seeing the male, female, nest, 
and young bird in its first year’s plumage, of the Bearded ‘Tit- 
R 4 
