28 NOVEMBER 1952, Page 20

Bearded Tits

SIR,—I am sorry to disappoint Lord Terrington on the matter of the bearded tit. In the notes which I drafted on that occasion I mentioned coal tits, remarking that they seemed to have more of a true beard than the bearded tits. The phrase proved rather too much of a digression, and I ran it through with a pencil. Unfortunately the coal tit reference was deleted and bearded tit remained. I am sorry to say that, as far as I know, we do not get the bearded tit in my locality. I apologise if I have raised hopes among ornithologists and for a careless bit of editing.—Yours faithfully, IAN NIALL. N. Wales.