The Reed Bunting 



THE Reed Bunting, or Reed Sparrow, is 

 sometimes called the Black-headed 

 Bunting. This a mistake, for in spite of the 

 fact that the male has a velvety black head 

 the name really belongs to a different species 

 altogether. You are not at all likely to 

 confuse the two birds, because the Black- 

 headed Bunting is a very rare visitor to our 

 shores, and when you see a feathered friend 

 a trifle longer than a house sparrow with a 

 black head and a white collar round its neck, 

 you are fairly safe in concluding that you 

 are looking at a male Reed Bunting. 



This species frequents marshes, swamps, 

 the banks of sluggish rivers, and the mar- 

 gins of lakes and reservoirs all over the 

 British Islands. The writer has met with it 

 breeding on small heather-clad islands in the 

 Outer Hebrides, and at a great elevation on 

 Norwegian mountains, where there were 

 plenty of snowdrifts and no reeds. 



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