54 BIRDS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 



They are readily brought up by hand on biscuit and 

 milk, with some ants' eggs and flies added. A certain 

 amount of insect food must be added to their dietary in 

 confinement, or they are apt to fall into a decline ; this is 

 especially so in summer. 



It is singular that nine out of ten cuckoos place their 

 egg, or eggH, in the nest of a yellow bunting. Length, 7 

 inches ; tail, 2^'. 



CiRL BuxTiXf;. — This species very strongly resembles the 

 last, but is distinguished by a triangular-shaped patch of 

 dark feathers under the cliin, which is wanting, or nearly 

 so, in the female ; there is a bluish band across the middle 

 of the breast, and a yellow streak above the eye. 



It feeds on a mixed diet of seeds and insects like its 

 congeners, and is often seen in company with the yellow- 

 hammer, than which it is a little smaller, measuring Cl- 

 inches, of which the tail takes up 2^. 



Reed Blxti.vg. — Like the last, this species is of partial 

 distribution only in Britain, and is chiefly met with in 

 localitits where the rush, from which it derives its trivial 

 name, is found, and there it may occur in considerable 

 numbers. The head and throat of the male are black, and 

 the lower parts white, spotted with brown at the sides, 

 which are also tinged with slate blue. The upper parts 

 are dark brown, with black centre and dark edges to every 

 feather. 



The female is without the black on head and throat, and 

 a shade of olive dominates the brown of the face. She has 

 the spots distributed all over the lower parts of her body. 

 Length, Gw inches ; tail, 2]. 



