THE REED-BUNTING. "9 



Family FRINGILLID&. Subfamily EMBER IZINsE. 



THE REED-BUNTING. 



Emberiza schceniclus, L/INN. 



FREQUENTLY, though incorrectly, called Black-headed Bunting, Reed 

 Sparrow, Water Sparrow, and Mountain Sparrow ; also well-known under 

 the popular name of Black-bonnet, is distributed over the whole of Europe from 

 the North Cape to the Mediterranean, as well as in Western Siberia; but it is 

 only a summer visitor to the more northern parts of its range, and chiefly a winter 

 visitor to the extreme south ; at this season it is also met with in Asia Minor and 

 North Africa. Races of this species occurring in the south of Europe, in Siberia, 

 Mongolia, and China, and a subspecies in Turkestan and Yarkand, have been dis- 

 tinguished by names ; but none of them occur in Great Britain. 



The Reed-Bunting is resident with us, and generally distributed throughout 

 our islands, although only a chance visitor to the Shetlands. In the autumn there 

 is an extensive immigration from the Continent, which reaches our eastern coasts 

 and the coasts of Ireland in September. 



The adult male has the head, including the chin, throat, and centre of breast 

 jet black ; a white moustachial streak running from the base of the lower mandible 

 to join a white collar continuous with a belt which bounds the black of throat 

 and breast ; feathers of back, wing-coverts, and secondaries black, bordered broadly 

 with bright chestnut ; lower back and upper tail-coverts bluish-ash, the feathers 

 tipped with chestnut, those of the lower back partly black-centred ; primaries 

 smoky brown, with narrow chestnut edges to the outer webs ; tail blackish, the 

 two outer feathers on each side with the greater part of the outer web and a large 

 wedge-shaped patch on the inner web white ; remainder of under parts dull white, 

 tinged with bluish ash and buff, and streaked with black on the flanks ; beak 

 brownish-black, underside of lower mandible much paler ; feet brown ; iris hazel. 

 After the autumn moult, the feathers of the head, back of neck, chin, throat, and 

 front of breast, have tawny or brown tips, and the feathers of the lower breast 

 and belly are stained at the tips with buff. In the female the feathers of the 

 head are dark brown with reddish-brown borders ; the lores and a superciliary 

 stripe bounding the ear-coverts pale buff; the throat is white, bounded on each 



