The BEARDED TITMOUSE (_Panurus biarmicus_) is light cinnamon brown on the
upper part of the body, greyish blue on the crown of the head, and light
rose-red on the under side; the throat is whitish, the region of the
tail black; the brown wings are decorated with a white stripe, and edged
with a line of black. The chin of the male is covered with a beard-like
tuft of soft black feathers, about nine inches long. The plumage of
the female is paler; the back is of a light shade, darkly spotted; the
lower tail-covers are pale rust-red, and the very slightly indicated
beard white. The young are almost black upon the back. The length of this
species is from six inches to six and a half, and its breadth from seven
inches to seven and a half; the wing measures two inches and a half, and
the tail three inches and a quarter.
[Illustration: BEARDED AND PENDULINE TITS.]
The Bearded Titmouse is met with in all the north-eastern parts of
Europe. In Great Britain it is but rarely seen; it is, however,
comparatively numerous in Holland, South Hungary, Greece, and a portion
of Asia Minor. Everywhere it seeks the reed-covered banks of rivers, and
lives in pairs or in small families.
Dr. Leach was induced to separate this very interesting bird from the
genus _Parus_ in consequence of its differing in several minor characters
from the other species of that genus, particularly in the situation it
affects as a place of abode and nidification, constructing a nest on
or near the ground in wet and marshy places. "Its food," continues Mr.
Gould, "is also very different, consisting of the seeds of reeds, with
aquatic insects and minute-shelled snails, for the trituration of which
it is provided with a strong muscular gizzard. It is more particularly
abundant in the low and marshy districts of Holland, France, and Germany.
Its disposition is timid, and its manners shy and retired, dwelling in
situations both local and difficult of access, a circumstance which,
until lately, has prevented naturalists from giving any details,
especially of its peculiar habits." We are indebted to Mr. Hoy for the
best account of this bird yet published, as given in the "Magazine of
Natural History," (Vol. III., page 328), from which the following is
extracted:--
"The borders," says. Mr. Hoy, "of the large pieces of water in Norfolk,
called 'broads,' particularly Hickling and Horsey Broads, are the
favourite places of resort of these birds; indeed, it is met with in
that neighbourhood wherever there are reeds in any quantity, with fenny
land adjoining. During the autumn and winter they are found dispersed
generally in small parties throughout the whole length of the Suffolk
coast, wherever there are large tracts of reeds. I have found them
numerous in the breeding season on the skirts of Whittlesea, near
Huntingdonshire, and they are not uncommon in the fenny districts of
Lincolnshire; whether they are to be met with further north I have no
means of ascertaining, but they do not appear to have been noticed
north of the Humber. They begin building in the end of April. The nest
is composed on the outside of the dead leaves of the reed and sedge,
intermixed with a few pieces of grass, and invariably lined with the top
of the reed, somewhat in the manner of the nest of the Reed Wren (_S.
arundinacea_), but not so compact in the interior. It is generally placed
in a tuft of coarse grass or rushes, near the ground, on the margin of
the dykes in the fen; sometimes fixed among the reeds that are broken
down, but never suspended between the stems. The eggs vary in number from
four to six, rarely seven; they are pure white, sprinkled all over with
small purplish red spots, intermixed with a few small faint lines and
markings of the same colour--size about the same as that of the Greater
Tit, but much more rounded and shorter. Their food during winter is
principally the seed of the reeds, and so intent are they in searching
for it, that I have taken them with a bird-lime twig attached to the end
of a fishing-rod. When alarmed by any sudden noise, or the passing of a
hawk, they utter their shrill musical notes, and conceal themselves among
the thick bottom of the reeds, but soon resume their station, climbing
the upright stems with the greatest facility. Their manners in feeding
approach near to those of the Long-tailed Tit; they often hang with the
head downwards, and occasionally assume the most beautiful attitudes.
Their food is not entirely reed-seed, for they sometimes eat insects and
their larvæ, and the very young shelled snails of different kinds, which
are numerous in the bottom of the reedlings. I have been enabled to watch
their motions whilst in search of insects, having, when there is a little
wind stirring, been often within a few feet of them, quite unnoticed
among the thick reeds. Were it not for their note betraying them, they
would be seldom seen. The young, until their autumnal moult, vary in
plumage from the old birds; a stripe of blackish feathers extends from
the hind part of the neck to the rump. It has been said that the males
and females keep separate during the winter, but I have always observed
them in company; they appear to keep in families until the pairing
time, in the manner of the Long-tailed Tit, differing in this respect,
that you will occasionally find them congregated in large flocks, more
particularly during the month of October, when they are migrating from
their breeding-places." "To the above interesting account," says Mr.
Gould, "we may add that they are to be met with occasionally on the banks
of the Thames; from the thick reed-beds of Erith, in Kent, throughout the
course of the river to Oxford; but their visits are by no means regular,
or to be calculated on with accuracy."
A contributor to Mr. Loudon's magazine saw a flock of eight or ten of
these beautiful little creatures on the wing, in a large piece of reeds
near Barking Creek, Essex. "They were just topping the reeds in their
flight, and uttering in full chorus their sweetly musical note, which
may be compared to the sound of very small cymbals; it is clear and
ringing, though soft, and corresponds well with the delicacy and beauty
of the form and colour of the birds. Several flocks were seen during the
same morning. Their flight was short and low, only sufficient to clear
the reeds, on the seedy tops of which, like most of their tribe, they
alighted to feed, with the head or back downwards. If disturbed, they
immediately descend by running, or, rather, by dropping to the bottom of
the stem, where they creep and flit, perfectly concealed from view by the
closeness of the covert and the resembling tints of their plumage."
* * * * *
The LONG-TAILED TITS (_Orites_) have a short, compact body; long,
graduated tail, incised at the centre of its extremity; moderate-sized
wings, in which the fourth and fifth quills exceed the rest in length; a
very short, much arched, and pointed beak; and delicate feet. The sexes
are alike in colour, and the young differ but slightly from their parents.