REED BUNTING. 313 



leaded Bunting of British authors. This dis- 

 tinctly marked species differs considerably in its 

 habits from those we have already described ; 

 frequenting the vicinity of marshy places, among 

 willow beds and reeds, and only coming to the 

 vicinity of population when pursued by the 

 severity of the weather. It is by no means 

 uncommon in suitable places, continuing in pairs, 

 and immediately shewing itself to an intruder by 

 its restless flight and anxious note, and by perch- 

 ing near the top of reeds or bushes which grow 

 around. The undisturbed call is one of the most 

 monotonous of the genus, and the bird will sit 

 for a length of time constantly repeating the 

 three or four notes which compose it, without 

 any variation. On approaching the place where 

 the nest is placed, the parents exhibit more than 

 the usual anxiety, and have been said to use 

 stratagem to decoy off the stranger ; when raised 

 from the nest, the female flutters along the ground 

 for a few yards, and then commences her anxious 

 calls, in which she is soon joined by the male. 

 The nest is placed in a tuft or hillock of grass, 

 by the root of some bush, or among the 

 taller herbaceous plants, and we have very fre- 

 quently found it in plantations bordering some 

 marshy spot, placed on a young spruce fir fronj 

 one to three yards from the ground. It is formed 

 of straw, dried grass, and roots, lined with fine 

 grass or hair. The eggs purplish red, boldly 

 marked and veined with dark brownish purple. 

 The Reed Bunting is commonly distributed over 



