360 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



all these flocks are the same individuals which summer on the 

 broads may be doubted. 



In some, if not in all, of its Dutch and German habitats it is 

 alleged to be migratory. This is the character which Schlegel 

 and Naumann give it, and one might expect the same in England. 

 In Normandy it is only a summer visitant, but, on the other 

 hand, in Luxemburg it is regarded as a winter visitant, and 

 Keulemans has known it to occur in Holland in winter. 



In Belgium it appears from Dubois's ' Oiseaux observes en 

 Belgique ' (1885) to be now very rare, though still to be some- 

 times seen in the marshes of Flanders and Antwerp, no doubt 

 the same causes operating to reduce its numbers as in England. 

 As it does not go further south than the Mediterranean, or 

 further north than Pomerania, its migrations cannot be very 

 great, as they are confined between 37° N. lat. and 56° N. lat. 

 Norfolk is very near its northern and its western limits. But 

 in an easterly direction its range is very extensive, for it appears 

 to reach right across Asia — where it becomes slightly paler — 

 into China. 



According to l'Abbe David it is " extremement commune 

 dans la region marecageuse qui s'etend au sud du coude septen- 

 trional du Hoangho " (the Yellow River), and this is on the 

 authority of Col. Prjevalsky, who brought back large collections 

 of insects and birds from that country. (' Orn. Miscellany,' ii. 

 p. 191.) 



It is also found in Turkestan ('Stray Feathers,' 1876, p. 154), 



where, according to Dr. Scully, it is exceedingly common. 



(Cf. map, p. 374.) 



Increasing Scarceness. 



We find very little about the Bearded Tit in the early 

 authors, but this is not singular, because of the aquatic situations 

 in which it resides, and Latham (1783) remarks that these birds 

 had only been observed in marshy situations, as though, their 

 peculiar characteristics not being known, there were some who 

 thought they might be looked for in woods and thickets ! 



From Sir T. Browne's day (1674) to Sir William Hooker's 

 (Diary 1807-40) there appears to be no Norfolk mention of the 

 Bearded Tit. Hooker, occupied with plants, merely says that 

 it was by no means infrequent at Surlingham Broad, which was 



