REED nUXTING. 51 



neatly finished, and is made by both birds. The female 

 sits very closely, and sometimes feigns lameness when 

 rudely scared from the nest ; a trick which the male 

 occasionally joins his mate in performing. The latter 

 frequently betrays the vicinity of the nest by his habit 

 of perching conspicuously close by and warbling his 

 monotonous song. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Reed Bunting are from four to six in 

 number. They vary in ground colour from pale olive to 

 buff, with a purple shade, boldly streaked and spotted 

 with deep rich purplish-brown, some of them almost 

 black in intensity. The underlying markings (both 

 streaks and spots) are violet-gray. The spots are mostly 

 paler and irregular in shape round the margin. The 

 streaks are shorter, thicker, and not so net-like as those 

 on the eggs of the Yellow Bunting. The markings are 

 generally pretty evenly distributed over the entire sur- 

 face of the shell, which is somewhat glossy. Average 

 measurem.ent, 77 inch in length, by -58 inch in breadth. 

 Incubation, performed by the female, lasts fourteen days. 



Diagnostic characters : The comparatively short 

 dark broad lines and large round spots are characters, in 

 combination with their size, that readily serve to dis- 

 tinguish the eggs of the Reed Bunting from those of any 

 other Bunting breeding in the British Islands. 



