210 The Breedwg of the Bearded Tit. 
bits of stick and ant-hill debris. I have not discovered any 
way of eliminating- this, but I am using a perfectly wonder- 
ful sample from Devonshire just now, in which tliese odd bits 
of flotsam and jetsam are conspicuous by their absence. The 
ants' eggs are then skimmed off and allowed to dry on paper 
in the sun. To put an ant's nest in the aviai'j^ is nearly 
useless, as the ants will very quickly remove every egg to 
a place of safety. 
Gentles are our last resource — they are cheap and 
you can put a good saucerful out at a time, and they are 
not sc quickly eaten as other live-food, a consideration when 
one has to be away for some hours. But they are horribly 
indigestible and I do not care about using- them for very 
ycung or very small birds. Still in a large aviary they 
are almost invaluable. 
Armed then with Reedlings, and with some idea as to 
how we are going to not only keep them alive, but in exhi- 
bition and breeding condition, we will now shift the scene 
to more domestic episodes. The sexes are, of course, very 
easUy distinguished. The cocks have very distinctive black 
moustachial streaks, giving the bird quite an Eastern appear- 
ance. The moustachial streaks are erectile, iind much used 
in courting. The hen also has erectile moustachial streaks, 
but as they are almost the .same colour as the rest; of the 
bird they are scarcely noticeable. The cock too, has a pretty 
grey head, but the hen's is fawn-coloured. And here let me 
remark that of some two or three dozen Reedlings I have 
possessed, seen or known, I have never found two ^hens 
quite alike nor two cocks at all unlike one another. The 
hens differ in colour, in markings, land in facial appear- 
ance to an extraordinary degree. This characteristic has 
been very helpful in watching an aviary where there were 
once five, but now, alas, only three jjairs of birds. 
In 1914 I possessed three pairs of Reedlings in an 
aviary with Hooded Siskins, Cordon Bleus, Firefmches, -and 
other hardbills. As far as I can recollect all these pairs 
nested. I had three lots of young, one nest of which nearly 
produced the medal winner that yeai'. The nestling, for there 
was only one survivor after the ,lirst week, fell outi of the 
nest when lull gio wn and practically fully Hedged, This year. 
