104 A HANDBOOK OF EUROPEAN BIRDS. 
webs, chest black, the under parts otherwise white, clouded and 
streaked with brown on the flanks; bill dull Geen above, 
paler beneath ; legs, feet and ies brown. Length 6 inches ; 
culmen 0°35 ; wing 3 23 tailvery sie tarsus O75. 
Adult Female (Summer) : ‘Crown and ear-coverts dark 
brown, mixed with reddish-brown ; lores, superciliary stripe and 
under parts dull white ; throat bordered on either side by broad 
line of dark brown blotches ; chest and flanks spotted and 
streaked with brown ; otherwise marked very much as the 
male. 
Adult Male (Winter): Feathers above bordered wlth 
light reddish brown, though in very old birds the crown 
feathers are only tipped with brown; white collar much 
obscured ; feathers of chin and throat also pale tipped. 
Young: Paler above than the adult female, owing to the 
length of the light borders of the feathers; sides of head 
duller, and less marked on sides of throat. 
Nestling: Above dull brown, marked with buffish here 
and there and broadly streaked, especially on centre of back 
and crown, with dark brown; beneath pale buffish, marked, 
especially on sides of throat and breast, with dark brown. 
Distribution : Resident throughout the Palearctic Region 
in suitable localities. 
‘Habitat: Marshy thickets ; reed beds. 
LARGE-BILLED REED BUNTING. 
Emberiza pyrrhuloides fall. 
Adult Male: Generally larger than E. scheniclus ; back 
considerably paler, the feathers having broad white margins ; 
quills with whitish margins ; rump nearly white; central rec- 
trices broadly margined with whitish; beneath as in £. sche- 
niclus. Length 7 to 7:25 inches ; heig cht of bill at base 0°32; 
Wile 375. tail 2°25\; ‘tarsus ot3. 
Adult Female: Similar to female of E. schaniclus but 
larger; bill larger and thicker at base; plumage generally 
paler. 
Adult Male (Winter): Dark parts above washed with 
creamy-ochreous ; feathers of head and throat tipped with the 
same ; under parts washed with yellowish. 
