116 THE BIKDS OF SUSSEX. 



he tells me that four more were brought to him in November, 

 and another in January, all taken in the neighbourhood. 

 According to Yarrell's B. B. vol ii., this bird is found in 

 colonies in Lapland, where the cloudberry and the dwarf 

 birch are the chief vegetation, and utters a song, which, 

 though not brilliant, possesses a tone of sweetness. The nest 

 is formed chiefly of dry grass and a bedding of soft feathers, 

 which distinguishes it from that of any other species fre- 

 quenting the district. It is generally a local bird, and does 

 not assemble in large flocks ; it feeds on berries and insects. 

 In its fondness for swampy places it resembles the Reed- 

 Bunting. 



EEED-BUNTING. 



« 



Emheriza schcmiclus. 



The Reed-Bunting is found throughout the county wherever 

 there are beds of reeds, either by the river-sides or in the 

 marshes or ponds, and is resident throughout the year. It 

 is particularly abundant in the patches of reeds between 

 Shoreham and Beeding, where any evening many may be 

 seen dropping in, one by one, from a considerable height in 

 the air to their roosting -places. 



In the winter they roam about with flocks of Sparrows and 

 other small birds, feeding along with them about the corn- 

 stacks and farm-yards. 



In the breeding-season it utters a slight song, generally of 

 a few notes, the last two or three being drawn out consider- 

 ably, while the bird is sitting on a high reed, or little bush 

 overhanging the water. 



It builds among the reeds, constructing its nest of coarse 



