THE BEARDED TITMOUSE. 371 



mouths has not been sufficiently taken notice of. The nestling 

 Blackcap's mouth is lake red, the nestling Willow Warbler's 

 yellow, the Pied Wagtail dull yellow, and the Garden Warbler, 

 according to Bettoni, buff. The nestling Hedge Sparrow has 

 two black spots on its tongue, and the Grasshopper Warbler 

 several spots (Macpherson). Probably none of these tints are 

 lost until the young have left the nest. 



Anatomy. 



Under the heading of " Anatomy," I cannot do better than 

 quote the precise description of Prof. Macgillivray, who in this 

 branch of science especially excelled over other writers : — 



" (Esophagus one inch two-twelfths long, inclined to the right, 

 with a distinct dilatation or crop a quarter of an inch in width ; 

 the proventriculus bulbiform. Stomach a very muscular gizzard, 

 six and a half twelfths long, seven twelfths broad, obliquely 

 placed, with the lateral muscles very prominent, the epithelium 

 dense, with broad rugae, and of a yellowish colour, the right 

 muscle two twelfths thick. The trachea as in the Passerinse 

 and Cantatores ; its rings sixty." — (William Macgillivray.) 



See also " Remarks on the Internal Structure," by Kobert F. 

 Tomes, 'Ibis,' 1860, p. 317. 



In Confinement. 



Since 1743, when the Countess of Albemarle brought a 

 cageful of Bearded Tits from Copenhagen, it has been popular 

 with bird-fanciers in this country, and the experience of all 

 who have tried it is that it is a bird in every way to be 

 recommended for the cage. There is no need to infringe on our 

 native stock, for continental birds, which, in the opinion of some 

 are finer than British, can be generally bought from Erbermehl, 

 Abrahams, or Zache. 



Mr. John Young has written one of the best accounts of this 

 charming species in captivity (Norf. and Nor. Nat. Tr. iii. p. 519), 

 and I am indebted to him for showing me his cage. He first of 

 all provided them with proper nesting places and material, by 

 sticking the tops of pampas grass round a six-inch pot of earth, 

 a site somewhat similar to the reeds of their native haunts. 



