THE REED BUSTING. 25 



it very imperfect, and in those which have it very acute, as 

 carrion-crows, magpies, and especially vultures, it is so much 

 more exquisite than any tiling of which we have experience 

 in ourselves, that we can say little or nothing about it. 

 The vegetable seed gives no sign of its presence by mo- 

 tion, either in producing sound or in any other way ; and, 

 therefore, sight is the sense upon which chiefly they must 

 depend. 



With insectivorous birds it is different most insects and 

 their larvae smell, and some of them smell strongly : and 

 many of those caterpillars which are quiescent during the 

 day concealed or sticking out from the branches like little 

 unproductive or abortive twigs are in active motion during 

 the night. 



Thus the hours of activity in the two orders of birds vary ; 

 and though, as all of them eat insects, and most of them 

 vegetable matter occasionally, they meet on the confines in a 

 sort of average of the two habits, yet, in the more marked 

 genera of the orders, the times of feeding are almost reversed. 

 In the clear light, and during dry weather, when the seeds 

 are ripening apace, the buntings are all bustle, activity, and 

 clatter, and the warblers are songless in the shade. On the 

 other hand, when night sets in, or when the weather con- 

 tinues wet, and the sky cloudy, the buntings chirp dolefully 

 about the hedges ; but the groves and thickets are full of joy 

 and song. The sky-lark is something intermediate, and loves 

 best that weather which first inspires him with song 

 showering and shining by turns. 



The head of the male reed bunting, and the nape and sides 

 of the neck, the chin and gorget on the upper part of the 

 breast, are deep black with a slight bluish tinge, except a 

 streak from near the gape down each side of the neck. A 

 collar of white joins the black, and heightens the contrast by 



