That is why we have not in England so many of this lovely species as we used to have. Our fens and meres in Lincoln, Huntingdon, and Cambridge Shires, as well as in Kent, Sussex, and Essex, also in Suffolk having been drained, the birds that lived in these have naturally left them. We are glad, however, to know that Bearded Tits are increasing again in the Norfolk Broads, owing to protection from the greed of private collectors. The great naturalist, Buffon, declared that the male bird has the charming habit of covering his mate with his wings to protect her alike from unkind winds and the burning heat of the sun, as she sits on her nest. Trinkin, the peasants of Anjon call it because of the metallic tone of its cry. In the Norfolk Broads it has been known as the Reed Pheasant. Scientists have found that this species differs in its digestive organs and other points from the Titmouse family, and that it is, as the late Professor Newton remarks, a perfectly distinct form, representing the family Panuridæ, instead of forming one species of the Paridæ.
It feeds on the seeds of the reeds in winter and in summer on small molluscs.
This bird, which is a beautiful and delightful bird in every respect, is the size of a Yellow-Hammer. Its feathers are of a silky fineness. The head is bluish-grey; from the corner of the mouth on each side, hangs a pointed, silky black moustache, which can be raised erect on occasion. The nape and back are cinnamon brown, which is lighter over the root of the tail; the tail is deep black underneath, and is wedge-shaped with feathers of graduated length. The wings are striped with buffish-white, black and rufous; the quills are brown with white outer borders. The throat and chest are snow white, the under parts white with a flush of rose colour at the sides. The pupil of the eye is golden yellow.[4]
The Great Titmouse.
(Parus major.)
In respect to usefulness and activity, this bird takes the foremost place among the Tits: restless, noisy, and always cheerful from morning to night. It clings to the end of the twigs, head downwards, to look for insects underneath the buds; it even climbs up walls if they are rough and uneven. It slips into holes and crevices which seem impossible of entry. It pursues insects everywhere, and swallows them wholesale, as though it could never be satisfied. It has no fear of men, but comes confidently under the roof and perches on the gate, or looks in at the window from the window sill. It is courageous, even bold, and boundlessly inquisitive, a trait which often places its life and liberty in peril. For the sake of a little fat it will allow itself to be snared in a gourd or other trap. But it is just these qualities that make it so popular.
Its voice sounds like “tzit” or “sitzida, sitzida.” This beautiful, kindly bird deserves every protection.
Our sympathies are quite with this bright active creature, although some of our English naturalists accuse it of using its strong beak in order to split the skull of small weakly birds so as to feast on their brains. It has even been known to treat a Bat in this manner. We recognise it readily in the early spring by its note which is like the noise caused by the sharpening of a saw with a file.
Two years ago I saw the largest company of Tits—Great Tits, Blue Tits, Coal Tits, Marsh Tits and Crested
USEFUL.