REED BUNTING. 49 



Observation. Distinguish from last by the black cheeks. 



Plumage. Crown olive, streaked with black. Throat, neck, 

 and band through eyes black ; stripe above and below eye, and 

 % collar bright lemon-yellow. Breast greyish olive; flanks chest- 

 nut. Belly dull yellow. Otherwise very like the Yellow Hammer. 

 Length 6 in. Female, duller and more streaked below. Young, 

 duller than female. 



Language. Song, similar to last, but without the thin ter- 

 minal note. Call-note, " chea-che." 



H abits. Rather like the last, but more shy, keeping to the 

 tops of trees, from which it sings. Rather skulking. 



Food. Grasshoppers, beetles, insects, and spiders; in winter, 

 various seeds and grain. 



Nest. May onwards. Two broods. 



Site. Like last. 



Materials. Like last. 



Eggs. Four to five. White, faintly suffused with lilac, 

 streaked, dotted, and scribbled with purplish black or brown. 



REED BUNTING, ALSO REED SPARROW 

 (Emberiza schozniclus). 



Resident. Generally distributed. Never found far from 

 rivers or marshy places except when frozen out, when it con- 

 sorts freely and wanders about the country with Finches. 



Plumage. Head, throat, chin, and gorget black ; nape, sides 

 of neck, and moustachial streak white ; upper parts variegated 

 with reddish brown and blackish. Tail blackish ; two outer 

 feathers white, conspicuous in flight ; under parts dull white, 

 and streaked with black. Bill and legs brown. Length 6 in. 

 Female : head reddish brown with dusky spots, white areas less 

 pure. Young, like female. 



Language. Song, a brief performance,, and may be ren- 

 dered "cheo-cheo-chee-chee-chee-chee," ending with a hai-sh 

 " zshwee," not unlike the Greenfinch's terminal note. Call-note, 

 " tschee." 



Habits. It sings from the top of some reed-stem, and, if 

 disturbed, flies on a few yards, perches again and sings, and so 

 on. Flight slow and rather clumsy. It hops on the ground. 



Food. Insects and their larvae. Small mollusca and various 

 seeds in winter. 



Nest. May onwards. Two or three broods. 



Site. On or close to the ground, and always near water, 

 among rushes at side of a ditch, among osiers, &c. 



Materials. Dry grass, bits of aquatic plants, and moss, lined 

 with fine grass and horsehair. 



Eggs. Four to five. Brownish lavender or purplish grey, 



