100 BEARDED TITMOUSE., 
Hungary, South Russia—especially in the marshes of the Black and 
Caspian Seas—Turkestan, Yarkand and Southern Siberia : the 
coloration of specimens becoming gradually paler from England 
eastward to Central Asia. The bird has also been observed in 
Albania, Greece and Asia Minor. 
On the Norfolk Broads the ‘Reed Pheasant,’ as it is called, 
often begins to lay early in April; the nest being placed near the 
water, in sedge, crushed-down reeds, or aquatic plants, but never 
suspended from the stems. It is composed of flat grass-blades, 
sedges, and dead flags, with a lining of the flower of the reed. The 
5-7 eggs are shining creamy-white, sparingly streaked with short wavy 
lines of reddish-brown : average measurements *7 by ‘55 in. Some- 
times two hens occupy the same nest, each laying an egg daily until 
a total of 10 is reached. Two broods are produced in the season, 
fresh eggs being obtainable up to the early part of August. The 
note is a clear, ringing ping, ping ; and when the nest is approached 
a plaintive ce-ar, ee-ar is uttered. Even in the winter the birds are 
lively and musical, and at that season they may be seen in flocks of 
forty or fifty together ; often roving from the frozen inland waters to 
those which are kept open by the influence of the tide. The food 
consists largely of the seed of the reed in winter; but in summer 
the crops of some individuals have been found closely packed with 
such small shell-bearing molluscs as Succinea amphibia. In its diges- 
tive organs and other points of internal structure this bird shows no 
real affinity to the Tits, and some writers have advocated its relation- 
ship to the Finches; it is, however, as Professor Newton remarks, 
a perfectly distinct form, with no very near relations, and quite 
entitled to be regarded as the representative of a separate family, the 
Panuside. 
The adult male has the crown bluish-grey ; a black loral patch 
descends diagonally from below the eye and terminates in a pointed 
moustache; nape, back and rump orange-tawny; secondaries longitu- 
dinally striped with buffish-white, black, and rufous ; primaries brown 
with white outer margins; tail mostly rufous; chin and throat 
greyish-white turning into greyish-pink on the breast ; flanks orange- 
tawny ; under tail-coverts jet black ; bill yellow; legs and feet black. 
Length 6°75 in. ; wing 2°25 in. The female has the head brownish- 
fawn, and no black on the lores, cheeks, or under tail-coverts ; the 
back is somewhat streaked, but in other respects she is merely duller 
than the male. The young bird is like the female, but the crown 
of the head and the middle of the back are streaked with black. 
