Thk Rhed-Buxtixg 127 



iu Siberia, Mongolia, uud China, and a snbspecies in Turkestan and Yarkand, 

 have been distinguished by names ; but none of them occur in Great Britain. 



The Reed-Bunting is resident with us, and generally distributed throughout 

 our islands, although onh- a chance visitor to the Shetlands. In the autumn there 

 is an extensive immigration from the Continent, which reaches our eastern coasts 

 and the coasts of Ireland in September. 



The adult male has the head, including the chin, throat, and centre of breast 

 jet black; a white moustachial streak running from the base of the lower mandible 

 to join a white collar continuous with a belt which bounds the black of throat 

 and breast; feathers of back, wing-coverts, and secondaries black, bordered broadly 

 with bright chestnut; lower back and upper tail-coverts bluish-ash, the feathers 

 tipped with chestnut, those of the lower back partly black-centered ; primaries 

 smok3'-brown, with narrow chestnut edges to the outer webs ; tail blackish, the 

 two outer feathers on each side with the greater part of the outer web and a large 

 wedge-shaped patch on the inner web white; remainder of under parts dull white, 

 tinged with bluish-ash and buff, and streaked with black on the flanks ; beak 

 brownish-black, under side of lower mandible much paler; feet brown; iris hazel. 

 After the autumn moult, the feathers of the head, back of ueck, chin, throat, and 

 front of breast, have tawny or brown tips, and the feathers of the lower breast 

 and belly are stained at the tips with buff. In the female the feathers of the 

 head are dark brown with reddish-brown borders ; the lores and a superciliar}^ 

 stripe bounding the ear-coverts pale buff; the throat is white, bounded on each 

 side by a broad blackish streak ; the breast is streaked with brown ; otherwise 

 she is similar to the male, though slightly smaller. The young bird is very like 

 the female. 



During the summer the Reed-Bunting is essentially a marsh-loving bird, 

 frequenting all moist spots in the neighbourhood of rivers, broads, canals, 

 drains, or streams, wherever rushes, reeds, and the wiry grasses which delight in 

 damp soil abound; in such spots its nest is almost sure to be found by careful 

 searching. 



At this season the Black-bonnet is always paired, but as autumn approaches 

 it wanders over the country in small flocks, often associating with Corn Buntings, 

 Larks, Pipits, or Wagtails, and wandering through stubbles and rick-yards in 

 search of scattered grain, or waste corners where weeds abound, the ripened seed 

 of which afford them food. 



But the summer time affords the most satisfactory opportunites for watching 

 the habits of the Reed-Bunting, and Norfolk is one of the best counties in which 

 to study it. As Stevenson observes: — "the broads in this count}- must be looked 



