204 OUR FA VOURITE SONG BIRDS 



The food of the Reed Bunting in summer is 

 composed of insects and larvae, small molluscs and 

 seeds ; in winter seeds and grain are the staple fare. 

 The young birds are exclusively reared on an 

 insect or " soft " diet. The call-note of this Bunting 

 is a prolonged and very harsh seese, and is very 

 like a common note uttered by the Greenfinch. 



The adult male Reed Bunting has the entire 

 head and throat black ; a broad white stripe extends 

 from the base of the lower mandible and joins the 

 white on the breast and a white collar which passes 

 completely round the back of the neck ; the general 

 colour of the remainder of the upper parts Is chest- 

 nut, becoming grey on the rump and upper tail- 

 coverts, each feather with a broad blackish-brown 

 centre ; the wings are dark brown, margined with 

 chestnut-red ; the tail feathers are black (except 

 the two centre ones which are coloured like the 

 back), with oblique white patches on the two 

 outermost pairs. The general colour of the under 

 parts is white, tinged with grey on the breast, 

 and streaked with brown on the flanks. The female 

 is much less showy, wanting the black head and 

 throat, the head being reddish-brown streaked with 

 darker brown ; the eye-stripe is pale buff, the under 

 parts are more streaked, and the white moustachial 

 line of the male is replaced by a brownish-black one. 

 The nestling plumage is similar to that of the 

 female. The total length of the Reed Bunting is 

 about six Inches. 



