2232 The Zoologist— August, 1870. 



Great Tit. — Generally distributed. This bird possesses, like all 

 the species of titmouse, great variety of notes, one of them 

 resembling exactly the sound produced by the sharpening of a saw; 

 it utters two or thi-ee loud chirps at the commencement of spring, like 

 the " twink twink" of the chaffinch. 

 Blue Tit. — Generally distributed. 



Cole Tit. — Not uncommon in woods, especially in the eastern parts 

 of Cornwall. 



Mar.^h Tit. — Not uncommon in large woodlands in East Cornwall ; 

 rare in the west: generally frequents low copses, alder pollards, and 

 withy coverts, in morasses : less numerous than the last species. 



Longtailed Tit. — Rather local : found in small families throughout 

 the winter, perhaps the brood of the former year. 



Bearded Tit. — Very rare : an adult male from St. Levan, the only 

 recorded example in this district. 



[This beautiful little bird is more common in our eastern than our 

 western counties. It used to be frequently found in the Woolwich 

 marshes, and still occurs in some abundance in Essex, Suffolk and 

 Norfolk. Mr. Stevenson, in his 'Birds of Norfolk,' says, "When 

 shooting at Surlingham in the winter months, I have more than once 

 observed the arrival of a flock from some neighbouring broad, their 

 presence overhead being indicated by the clear ringing sound of their 

 silvery notes, uttered preparatory to their pitching into the nearest 

 reed-bed, and in autumn, after roosting in small parties on the reeds, 

 they will fly up simultaneously soon after sunrise, swarming for a while 

 like a flock of bees; and uttering in full chorus their pretty song, 

 disperse themselves over the reed-beds for their morning's meal. 

 Delicate as these little creatures appear I have found them during the 

 sharpest frosts, when the snipe had left the half-frozen waters for 

 upland springs and drains, still busy amongst the reed stems as lively 

 and musical as ever. It is greatly to be regretted that the demand for 

 specimtns from their handsome plumage should lead to the wholesale 

 slaughter of the bearded tits throughout the winter; added to which, 

 the price of late years oflTered for their eggs has caused a sensible 

 diminution in their numbers."] 



Bohemian Waxwing. — Occasional winter visitant : a flight, which 

 spread more or less over the whole of Great Britain, took place in the 

 winter of 1849—1850. 



Pied Wagtail. — Generally distributed. In very old birds I suspect 

 the black summer plumage is retained perennially. 



