64 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



sides and flanks. Total length, 6 inches ; culmen, 0-15 ; wing, 

 3-0; tail, 2-0; tarsus, 075. 



In winter the bird is much browner than in summer, the 

 feathers having sandy edges, which gradually wear away in the 

 spring, leaving the full plumage in its entirety, without any 

 moult. 



Adult Female. Differs from the male in wanting the black 

 head and throat ; the under surface of the body white, with- 

 out any yellow tinge; the sides streaked with dusky brown; 

 breast distinctly streaked ; throat ashy fulvous, with a broad 

 black streak on either side widening out on each side of the 

 neck ; centre of crown brown, streaked with black, and re- 

 sembling the back ; lesser wing-coverts chestnut. Total length, 

 5*2 inches ; wing, 2*9. 



Range in Great Britain. Found everywhere, and breeding in 

 suitable places, except in the Shetlands, where it is only an 

 irregular visitor. 



Range outside Great Britain. Europe generally, extending 

 east to the Yenesei Valley, and said to occur in Mongolia 

 and Kamtchatka, but not extending north beyond the forest 

 growth. It is certainly found in Central Asia and through- 

 out Turkestan, occurring in North-western India in winter. 

 In the countries of the Mediterranean it is replaced in many 

 districts by the large Marsh Bunting (Pyrrhulorhyncha palus- 

 tris). 



Habits. The Reed-Bunting is a familiar object on our 

 marshes and rivers, the black-and-white head-dress of the male 

 rendering him very conspicuous as he utters his twittering song 

 from the top of some bulrush or low bush. It is a bird fre- 

 quently to be observed in summer on the banks of the Thames 

 and other rivers in England. In the autumn and winter the 

 Reed-Buntings collect in considerable flocks and frequent 

 the stubble-fields in company with Sparrows and Chaffinches. 

 Large numbers visit our shores in autumn, and it was one of 

 the most plentiful migrants which we saw in Heligoland. As 

 is the case with most of our Finches, the food of the Reed- 

 Bunting in summer consists largely of insects, but in winter it 

 feeds chiefly on seeds and grain. 



