EMEERIZIN.li. 



211 



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THE REED-BUNTING. 



Emderiza schceniclus, Linna2us. 



This bird is often called the Reed-Sparrow, and unfortunately 

 has also been known as the Black-headed Bunting, which has led 

 to a confusion with the totally different species already described 

 (p. 197). It is resident and generally distributed throughout Great 

 Britain and Ireland, breeding sparingly even in the Outer Hebrides 

 and the Orkneys, though only an occasional visitor to the Shet- 

 lands. In summer it frequents damp spots, whether on the 

 banks of sluggish streams bordered by alders, osiers and sedge, or 

 rush-grown places on swampy moorlands. In winter, however, it 

 sometimes assembles in flocks, and Mr. Booth has found from forty 

 to fifty birds roosting on patches of reeds by small marsh dykes ; at 

 that season also it often shifts its haunts, in search of food, to places 

 at some distance from water. In autumn large numbers cross the 

 North Sea from the Continent and visit our east coast, while a 

 similar migration has been noticed on the shores of Ireland. 



The Reed-Bunting inhabits suitable localities in Europe from the 

 vicinity of the North Cape to the Mediterranean, though in the 

 northern portions it is partially migratory, quantities crossing Heligo- 

 land ; in Spain and the extreme south, however, it is most abundant 

 during the winter, and comparatively few remain to breed. It occurs 

 in North-western Africa, yet in the North-east and in Egypt it is 

 decidedly uncommon, and to Asia Minor it is only a winter-visitor. 

 Eastward, it is found across Siberia to Kamschatka ; but South- 



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