92 THE BIRDS OF ESSEX.
among the reeds at Tollesbury in September, 1858. Mr. Ambrose tells me that Dr.
Maclean once shot three among the reeds beside the river Colne, near Marriage's
Mill at Colchester. These are probably the three specimens still in the Museum,
as Dr. Laver recollects Dr. Maclean telling him that he shot them himself in the
neighbourhood, and that they were formerly not uncommon. They are very
nicely preserved, probably by Dr. Maclean himself.
It is not improbable that the Bearded Tit may still be reckoned as a resident in
Essex, though undoubtedly a very scarce one ; for on July 12th, 1888, Mr. Edward
Taylor, of Bishop's Stortford, saw a male in a large reed patch on the Herts side of
the River Stort, near that town. He had a close view of the bird, as it rested
on the top of a bulrush, and was able clearly to distinguish the long tail and black
moustache. Mr. Taylor writes me : "1 could not possibly be mistaken, as I was
not more than a dozen yards from it. I went to the spot once or twice after-
wards, but never saw it again. It might, however, have been near me at the
time, as the bed of osiers was a large one, and the reeds thick." Mr. Hope, too,
has a male shot on Dec. 24th, 1885, no further off than the King's Fleet, an arm
of the River Deben, near Felixstowe, in Suffolk, not more than about two miles
from the Essex border. A female was seen at the same spot in Feb., 1886. The
fact of the Bearded Tit actually breeding in Essex at this day still, however,
remains to be demonstrated. 
Family PARIDAE.
Long-tailed Tit: Acredula caudata-rosea. Locally, " Bottle-
tit," "Oven-builder," " Oven-tit," and " Pudding-poke," also "Bottle-
torn," and " Long-tom-capon-bones " (E. A. F.).
A common resident. The British form of this species differs
from the White-headed form (A. caudata), which is usual on the
Continent, but is only sub-specifically distinct. The latter has
probably occurred
in the county, as it
occasionally strag-
gles to Britain, but
I am not aware
that it has been ac-
tually observed*
Mr. Joseph Clarke,
writing in 1854, noted
(24) that it had been
" very rare of late,"
round Saffron Walden.
LONG-TAILED TITS, 1/5. Round Orsett, where it
is known as the " Bottle Tit " or " Oven-builder," it is uncommon (Sackett).
* There is, however, in the Colchester Museum Collection a specimen of this form which was
probably killed in the neighbourhood, though nothing definite is known about it. Very likely
it was stuffed and presented by Dr. Maclean. It appears to be intermediate between the true
A. caudata and the British form, as the head is not wholly white.