THE BEARDED TITMOUSE. 293 
ear. If there is any wind they do not show themselves; a very 
little is enough to wave the tops of the reeds and keep them at 
the bottom ; it is also difficult to hear their notes unless it be a 
still day, for they are not loud at any time, although described 
by many persons as shrill. One who has kept them in confine- 
ment syllables the ordinary call-note thus: “tjunk, kjunk, tjink, 
tjink.” Another circumstance which renders them difficult to 
see is their protective tawny colour, so like the old brown reeds 
of the preceding year. Their long tails have earned them the 
local appellation of ‘ Reed Pheasant,” another local name being 
“‘Maish [7.e., Marsh] Pheasant.” Occasionally the natives of 
Hickling and the neighbourhood allude to them as “Maish 
Tits,” but I do not attach much importance to local names, 
except in particular cases. 
The flight of the Bearded Tit may be described as somewhat 
laboured and slow; it flits rather than flies, and never seems to 
rise into the air. The head is held high, and the tail, which 
certainly must incommode the bird, has the appearance of being 
partly spread. There is nothing in this to distinguish these 
birds from our woodland Titmice, from which they are by no 
means so dissimilar as some writers would have us believe. 
The Rev. Richard Lubbock has remarked that in cold weather 
they sometimes nestle closely together upon the same reed, in 
the same manner as does the Long-tailed Titmouse; and a 
fenman brought him as many as six, which had been killed at 
one shot just before dark, when they were thus huddled together 
(‘ Fauna of Norfolk,’ 2nd ed. p. 56). 
The nest is generally placed about a foot above the level 
ground, and never in any way suspended, the tallest and oldest 
reeds being generally selected for its support, but a nest may 
occasionally be found in a cluster of sweet gale (Myrica gale), 
Carez, and alder. The nest is made of the brown leaves of 
Arundo phragmitis, and always lined with its feathery top ; 
I think I have seen sweet gale interwoven in the fabric also. 
The inside diameter is about 2°8 in., and the eggs are not 
incommoded by a bit of reed sticking through the bottom. 
Yarrell alludes (vol. i. p. 516) to the nest being placed in a 
tuft of grass or nettles, but nettles do not grow on our Broads, 
and a tuft of grass, unless it was very rank marsh-grass, is not 
a likely place in which to find a nest. No one can think 
