MARSH nUXTINO. 
the head and breast much deeper. It breeds in the 
impenetrable reed beds, coming Avhen they are green. 
When the swamps are swollen it is not to be got at, 
but later it arrives on the borders of these s^vamps, 
and then it is to be discovered by its contrast with 
the blood-colour of the club reed. It is very lively; 
the male clings to the joints of reeds, and utters, like 
Salicar'ia turdoides, its crisp song. It is not so plen- 
tiful as E. schceniculus , and goes away earlier.” 
Enough has, I think, been said to prove the sj^ecific 
distinction of this bird. Of its nidification Degland 
tells us: — “,It nests on the edges of marshes, among 
rushes, between the roots of aquatic plants. Its nest 
is composed exteriorly of the filaments of vegetables, 
dry plants, and is lined with horse-hair. Its eggs, in 
number from four to five, are of a dull white, dis- 
tinctly marbled with brown, (according to Tcmminck,) 
or (according to Crespon) of a white, shaded into 
greyish, and marked with a multitude of small brown 
spots, most numerous at the larger end.” 
“In manners and habits the Marsh Bunting differs 
but little from the Heed Bunting. Its note, according 
to Crespon, is briefer and stronger. The same author 
remarks that it breaks the stems of the reeds to eat 
the pith, and that it also feeds on insects.” 
The following is Savi’s description: — The male in 
breeding plumage has the beak thick, compressed 
laterally, curved above and below, obtuse at the point, 
and of a black colour. It rather resembles a Sparrow’s 
beak, but is shorter. Head, neck, throat, and middle 
part of breast black; there is a large white band be- 
ginning at the angle of the beak, and uniting itself 
with the white of the flanks and abdomen. Scajjularies 
black, broadly margined with fulvous chesnut; the rest 
