small insects and the seeds of the reed ; but in cap- 

 tivity I found that ordinary soft-billed bird's food suited 

 them well, and that dried ants' eggs were very favourite 

 morsels. 



The eggs are said to be generally five or six in 

 number, and are white, with irregular streaks and 

 speckles of black or very dark brown. 



The Bearded Reedhng is to be met with in suitable 

 localities almost throughout Central and Southern 

 Europe, and was formerly exceedingly abundant in the 

 vast reed-fens of the Netherlands. I noticed a habit in 

 this species that in my experience with caged birds is 

 by no means common — that of hanging suspended by 

 one foot to the wires at the top of their prisons for 

 sometimes several minutes without any apparent cause ; 

 the only other bird that I have observed to adopt this 

 practice as an ordinary habit is the Grey Struthidea of 

 Australia, Struthidea cinerea, Gould. 



