THE REED-BUNTING. 



Emberiza schceniclus, Linnaeus. 

 Plate i8. 



The Reed-Bunting, sometimes misnamed the Black-headed Bunting, and also 

 known as the Reed-Sparrow, is a resident species and is found in localities suited 

 to its habits in most parts of the British Islands. It has also a wide range through- 

 out Europe. 



The Reed-Bunting is an early breeder, the nest being sometimes begun in 

 March. This is usually placed on the ground, though I have once found it in 

 Scotland built in a fir, a few feet above the ground. 



It is composed of dead grasses, flags, and moss, with a lining of the feathery 

 tops of reeds, fine grasses, and hair. The five or six eggs are pale brown, 

 blotched and streaked irregularly with dark brown or black. 



The food, like that of the other Buntings, consists of seeds and insects. 



During the summer months this species frequents the banks of sluggish 

 streams and marshy reedy ground ; and the rather harsh song, consisting of 

 several notes, with the last one prolonged, is uttered as the bird clings to a tall 

 reed or willow sapling. 



In winter a good many Reed-Buntings leave their summer haunts and betake 

 themselves to the fields, where they feed with other species. 



The head of the male at this time of the year has the black more or less 

 obscured by brownish margins to the feathers. 



The female is by no means so brightly coloured as the male, the head being 

 reddish-brown, streaked with darker brown, and having a whitish eye-stripe. 



132 



