PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 163 



The feathers of the upper surface have broad rufous edges, while the white area 

 of the neck is obscured by a wash of sandy brown. The female at this 

 season is .much browner than in summer, and may be distinguished from 

 females of allied species by the chestnut colour of the lesser wing-coverts, 

 and the marking of the throat. The young, up to the first moult, resemble 

 the hen, but the young males show signs of the characteristic black and white 

 markings of the head of the adult. After the first moult they are to be 

 distinguished from the adults only by the more marked striation of the 

 under parts, [w. p. p.] 



2. Distribution. Generally distributed throughout Europe and West 

 Siberia, but in Hungary, the Balkan Peninsula, and South Russia local races are 

 found. In the British Isles it is a resident on suitable ground even to the Outer 

 Hebrides and the Orkneys, but it is scarce in North Scotland, and absent from the 

 Shetlands and Faeroes. [F. c. B. j.] 



3. Migration. Resident as a species, but many writers of local avifaunas 

 are agreed that their breeding birds are replaced by others from farther north in 

 autumn, a return migration taking place in March or early April. An overseas 

 emigration of south of England birds probably takes place, but direct evidence 

 is wanting (cf. Ticehurst, B. of Kent, 1909, p. 180). In some years there is a con- 

 siderable immigration in September and October on the east coast of Great Britain, 

 the movements often corresponding with similar " rushes " on Heligoland (cf. 

 Nelson, B. of Yorks., 1907, p. 209 ; and Gatke, Vogduiarte Helgoland, Eng. trans., 

 1895, p. 380). [A. L. T.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. Nesting place : usually on or not far from the ground 

 in marshy spots ; sometimes a foot or two above ground in flood wrack or young 

 trees. Nest : grasses, bents, and a little moss, lined with finer grasses, horse-hair, 

 and sometimes reed flowers. (PL vi.) It is built by the female, with or 

 without the co-operation of the male (E. Selous). Eggs 4-5, sometimes 6, in 

 number. The ground is generally olive, sometimes pale greenish or buff, boldly 

 spotted and streaked with a few almost black markings, and underlying shell 

 marks of violet-grey. A scarce variety is white without markings. (PI. B.) 

 Average size of 172 eggs, -76 x -56 in. [19*39 x 14*43 mm.]. Laying begins in 

 April. Incubation lasts 13-14 days, and is chiefly performed by the hen. 

 Sometimes three broods are reared. [F. c. B. J.] 



5. Food. In summer the reed-bunting takes various insects and their larvae, 

 but at other times feeds chiefly on the seeds of cereals, grasses, marsh plants, etc. 



