PLATE CLIII 



fords it flore of palatable food during part of the year without the 

 trouble of fearch beyond its ordimry places of refort. The Reed 

 Bunting never afTociates in large flocks, feldom more than fix or 

 eight together ; they frequent the fame fpots as the Sedge Warbler, 

 and it is imagined by fome late writers that the fine melodious note 

 attributed to the Reed Bunting belongs to the former bird. As the 

 Reed Bunting, though a timorous bird, is lefs fhy than the Reed 

 Warbler, we can eafily conceive a miftake of this kind might have 

 arifen, when both fliould happen to be in the fame bed of rufhes^ 

 the one concealed, the other confpicuous to the view of the liftener ; 

 the fong of the Warbler concealed might, under fuch peculiar cir- 

 cumftances, ftrike upon the ear, and be miftaken for that of the 

 Reed Bunting. The note of the Reed Bimting, according to Mr. 

 Montagu, confiils only of two notes, the firft three or four times 

 repeated, the laft fmgle and more fharp. 



Thefe birds form their neft of the dry flalks of grafs, fome- 

 times with an intermixture of mofs, and line it with various fubflances 

 of a fbft and light texture, fuch as the down of the reed, horffi 

 hair, and, in fome inflances, it has been known to employ for thia 

 purpofe the hair of the calf. The neft is ufually placed among the 

 rufties, or in a low bufh, and not always impending over the 

 water. The eggs are of a dirty blueifh white, marked with veins 

 of purplifli brown, which are moft confpicuous at the larger 

 end. 



This bird inhabits northern Europe, as far as Sweden, Ruflia 

 and Siberia ; towards the fouth it extends no further than Italy,. 

 Vol. VIL F where 



