SNOW BUNTING. 91 
REED BUNTING. 
EMBERIZA SCHCENICLUS, Linnzeus. 
Blackeap, Pit Sparrow. 
The reedy margins of the meres and the coarse herb- 
age and undergrowth which fringe many of the marl- 
pits are favourite nesting-places of the Reed Bunting, 
the bird being abundant during summer in such 
situations throughout the Cheshire lowlands. In the 
Hill Country, where the conditions are less favourable, 
it may be met with occasionally in marshy places. 
Although the majority leave us in autumn, odd birds 
may be seen throughout the winter. 
Few birds are so handsome as a male Reed Bunting 
in his nuptial dress, and his beautiful plumage is never 
seen to better advantage than when, clinging to a tall 
reed or withy, he utters his stammering song. Like 
many birds that build upon the ground, the female 
when disturbed will frequently endeavour to lure an 
intruder from the vicinity of the nest, by tumbling 
along the ground for several yards with trailing wings. 
SNOW BUNTING. 
PLECTROPHENAX NIVALIS (Linnzus),. 
Mountain Bunting. 
The Snow Bunting visits Cheshire occasionally in 
severe winters, and is then met with more frequently 
on the hills of the East than elsewhere. Brockholes 
describes it as ‘a rather scarce winter visitor’ to 
Wirral.! Mr. N. Cooke records that one was captured 
1 Brockholes, op. cit. p. 7. 
