The Breeding of the Bearded Tit. 
207 
chance, but so far tlic question remains unanswererl. I feci if 
one could find a satisfactory answer one would really further 
avicultural knowledge. Here we have a species costing 7s. 6d. 
a pair, fairly easy to keep, a native of our own land with its 
detestable climate, and as charming- a softbill as one could 
wish for. And yet this wee bird has defied the medal 
hunter.; for years, and raised hopes only to dash them to the 
ground But at length the spell is broken and I don't doubt 
that young Reedlings will soon be an annual event in many 
aviaries in future. The difficulties are evidently not insur- 
mountable nor success unobtainable. With this short pro- 
logue I will endeavour to give a description of my birds and 
their attempts at nesting. 
I^earded Tits or Reedlings are well known to most. 
They are so charming, so perfectly inoffensive, and so interest- 
ing that they ought to be in many more mixed series. The first 
time 1 saw Reedlings I was "taken" with them, and like Dr. 
Amsler said witli regard to the Orchard Finches, I felt I was 
going lo breed them. Oddly enough our Kon. Editor always felt 
convinced I should too, and I believe I am right in saying 
that he never wavered in that opinion. I did not get much 
help from senior aviculturists : one told me they always had 
fits and died; another that you oould only keep them in 
separate cages; a third that they needed some rare and un- 
known water -beetle larvie to keep them in health, and so on ad 
nauseuni. But as an aviculturist I was out to learn,: so 1 
decided to try my luck. Only one really gave me any en- 
couragement, and that was Mr. J. Frostick, who assured me 
they were " easy to keep," according to his experience. These 
birds usually come on to the market in the spring, and it is 
a fact that one finds either a plethora of cocks, or a plethora 
of hens. Possibly they migrate as do Nightingales, in sexes. 
Contrary to general belief you may put three or four pairs 
of them in one cage and they do not seriously disagree, except 
at mealworm time or when fresh food is introduced. 
They are very fond of bathing, and, of course, purely 
insectivorous. In a cage Reedlings are far more character- 
istic than in an aviary. They are very Tit-like in all their 
ways. In a cage they are not easy to keep, in condition, 
but all softbills present greater difficulty in that respect than 
