CALAMOPHILUS BIARMICUS.

Bearded Tit.

Parus biarmicus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 342.

Lanius biarmicus, Linn. Faun. Suec., no. 84.

barbatus, Briss. Orn., tom. iii. p. 567.

russicus, Gmel. Reise, tom. ii. p- 164, tab. 10.

Panurus biarmicus, Koch, Syst. d. Baierisch. Zool., 1816, p. 202; Cab. Mus. Hein., Theil i. p. 89.
Calamophilus biarmicus, Leach.

 

 

barbatus, Blas. and Keyserl.
Parotdes biarmicus, Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 193, Paroides, sp. 5.

 

Tuar the progress of agricultural science, and the consequent high style of farming, has a tendency to diminish
and occasionally to extirpate some of our native animals, we have abundant evidence to prove; as instances
in point, I may cite the noble Bustard among birds, and the beautiful copper Butterfly (Chrysophanus dispar)
among insects. The draining of our extensive meres and flat lands, particularly in Cambridgeshire,
Huntingdonshire, and Norfolk, has certainly rendered those parts of the country unsuitable to the habits of
the Bearded Tit, which I fear is far less numerous in England now than it was formerly. Birds, as well as
men, must yield to circumstances ; but every ornithologist will learn this fact with regret,—the extreme
delicacy of its tints, the elegance of its form, and the docility of its disposition rendering it an especial
favourite with every one who has a love for our native birds. In Great Britain, although local, it is by no
means scarce ; every tyro in ornithology iS acquainted with it: but there are, doubtless, numerous persons to
whom it is comparatively, if not entirely, unknown; to the latter, then, I would say that the beautiful bird
portrayed on the accompanying Plate is constantly resident with us, that it inhabits all the fenny districts of
Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, and Huntingdonshire, and that it is found in smaller numbers,
and with less certainty, on the tidal shores of the Thames and Medway, and in still less abundance on the
borders of most of our sedgy rivers, from Cornwall to Yorkshire. It must be understood, however, that it is
only in the five counties above mentioned that it may be looked for with the certainty of being found at any
time ; for I believe its occurrence in any other part of England to be accidental, and the period of its visit
uncertain. I might easily extract from the various works on British ornithology a list of the particular
places in which this bird has been shot, and add to it others with which I am myself personally acquainted ;
but this would answer no useful end, and the above general remarks will comprise all that need be said on
the subject of its distribution in England. In Ireland I have only heard of its being killed in a sinele
instance; in Scotland, I believe, it is unknown. On the Continent, as in England, it is very local; for,
although it is found from Italy and Turkey to Denmark and Russia, it is more abundant at the embouchures
of the Rhine and the Danube than elsewhere. The marshy districts of Holland, where the character of the
country assimilates very closely to the eastern parts of England, may be considered its head-quarters. In
France, Germany, and Austria it is sparingly dispersed, and only to be met with in reedy situations and on
the borders of those rivers whose banks are fringed with its favourite plant (Phragmites communis).

I have not failed to observe that specimens killed in Holland are larger, more delicately coloured, and
altogether more beautiful than those shot in England ; those differences, however, are scarcely sufficient to
constitute a race. Insular birds in many parts of the world differ slightly from others of the same
species found on a continent, as I have frequently had occasion to notice in the present work. Many
interesting passages have been written respecting the habits, actions, and economy of the Bearded Tit; and
I think it will only be fair to the authors, as well as advantageous to my readers, if I extract some of them.
A contributor to Loudon’s ‘ Magazine of Natural History,’ speaking of a flock of eight or ten found by him in
a large piece of reeds below Barking Creek in Essex, says :—‘* They were just topping the reeds in their
flight, and uttering in full chorus their sweetly musical note : it may be compared to the music of very small
cymbals, 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 morning. Their flight was short and low, only
sufficient to clear the reeds, on the seedy tops of which they alight to feed, hanging, like most of their tribe,
with the head or back downwards. If disturbed, they immediately descend by running, or rather by dropping.
The movement is rapid along the stalk to the bottom, where they creep and flit, perfectly concealed from view
by the closeness of the covert and the resembling tints of their plumage.”

“The borders,” says the late Mr. Hoy, “of the large pieces of fresh water in Norfolk called Broads, par-
ticularly Hickling and Horsey Broads, are the favourite places of resort of this bird; indeed, it is to be met