EASTERN RUSTIC BUNTING 1683 



Incubation and young. — According to Witherby et al. (1938) 

 incubation is chiefly by the female. Bertil Haglund (1935) reports 

 the length of the incubation period as 12 to 13 days, and that the 

 young remain in the nest another 14 days. The species usually has 

 only one brood each summer, but a few pairs may occasionally rear 

 second broods. 



Plumages. — The natal down has not been described. The juvenile 

 birds acquire their first winter plumage by molting their body feathers 

 and wing-coverts in August, but not the primary coverts, remiges, 

 or rectrices. A partial molt in April (sometimes March) and May is 

 confined to the head and throat. The adults undergo a complete 

 postnuptial molt in August. (Niethammer, 1937; Witherby et al., 

 1938). 



Food. — The food habits of the rustic bunting are inadequately 

 known. H. F. Witherby et al. (1938) say only "Seeds, including rice; 

 young said to eat oats and other grain." Dementiev et al. (1954) 

 quote Novikov's findings to the effect that in summer the species 

 feeds mainly on animal matter, chiefly curculionid beetles, lepidopteran 

 larvae, and spiders, with lesser amounts of aphids, flies, and gnats, 

 and in September shifts to a vegetative diet of plant buds and seeds 

 of grasses and other herbs. The observations of E. N. Teplova (1957) 

 are essentially the same. 



Voice. — The song of the rustic bunting is more varied and melodious 

 than those typical of most emberizines, and bears some resemblance 

 to the songs of the European robin (Erithacus rubecula), European 

 redstart {Phoenicurus phoenicurus) , and even of the blackcap {Sylvia 

 atricapilla) . As the male delivers it from his singing perch, which is 

 often within the canopy, it is not very loud, and may easily be over- 

 looked when heard. K. E. Kivirikko (1947) describes it as roughly 

 "dilludiludilutytyty", delivered with an accelerating tempo. This 

 short song is repeated at frequent intervals at the height of the singing 

 season. The alarm note is a sharp, high-pitched, easily recognized 

 "tic-tic-tic" or "dic-dic-dic." 



Behavior. — The rustic bunting is not easily observed during the 

 breeding season, for it is shy and retiring and usually remains under 

 cover in the thickets it inhabits. The male remains near the nest, 

 sometimes singing, but nervously uttering warning notes at the 

 approach of an intruder. The female incubates closely, and stays on 

 the nest until approached within a very short distance. She will 

 then run along the ground and through the lower branches giving the 

 usual distraction display with the typical "broken wing." Both birds 

 move restlessly close to the ground through the underbrush and 

 rarely come into the open. 



