86 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



paler bird, and in the young the crown is buff, bordered by- 

 brown instead of black ; the back is darker and the under parts 

 more striped. The female may be distinguished from the 

 Rustic Bunting by her more chestnut head and paler upper 

 parts. Length, 5 ins. Wing, 275 ins. Tarsus, 75 in. 



Reed-Bunting. Emberiza sch(S7iiclus Linn. 



Throughout Europe the Reed-Bunting (Plate 36) is resident 

 and often migratory, and with us it is at once a resident — some 

 remaining all winter, and a summer and winter visitor, for birds 

 from northern Europe arrive in autumn when many of our 

 nesting birds are leaving. 



The Reed- or Black-headed Bunting, as it is often called, is 

 a bird of the water-side, but whether flowing or stagnant 

 matters not ; it is happy in the reed fringe of lakes, meres, 

 canals and ditches, in the semi-aquatic vegetation round small 

 ponds, in sewage-farms or osier-beds, on marshy uplands, or 

 indeed anywhere w^here there is an abundance of insect food. 

 An old popular name is " Water-Sparrow," and in Lancashire 

 and Cheshire, where the ponds are mostly marl-pits, it is called 

 the " Pit-Sparrow." 



Clinging to a reed stem, one leg bent, gripping level with the 

 breast, the other straight beneath him, the smart black-headed, 

 white-collared male stutters and stammers his perpetual efforts 

 to produce a song. As music it is an indifferent performance, 

 ending after a few sharp but irregularly uttered notes with a 

 weak, hissing finish, corresponding to the jingle of the Corn- 

 Bunting and the " cheese" of the Yellow Hammer. The song 

 often starts in February and continues until autumn, and yet, 

 after six months or more of effort no perfection is attained. The 

 call is a loud seeep^ often uttered by the bird when courting, 

 and when the young are in the nest both birds have a short, 

 anxious alarm or warning " chit " ; I have heard them repeat 



