REED BUNTING. 



363 



the rest wholly black : legs and feet dusky brown. 

 Female rather less : head rufous brown, streaked 

 with dusky : from each side of the under mandible 

 a duskv line passes under the neck, where it joins, 

 and forms a bed of that colour : behind the eye a 

 light-coloured mark : breast streaked with reddish 

 brown : rump olive brown : head without the white 

 ring of the male : young birds do not receive the 

 black on the head till the ensuing spring. 



This bird does not, as was formerly supposed, 

 suspend its nest between four reeds within a few 

 feet of the water ; but generally places it on the 

 ground at a little distance from water, and occa- 

 sionally in a bush, in high grass, or in a furze, at 

 a great distance from any water : it is composed 

 of stalks of grass, moss, and fibres, lined with fine 

 grass The eggs are four or five in number, of a 

 dirty blueish white, or purplish brown, with many 

 dark-coloured spots and veins. Dr. Latham, as 

 well as other ornithologists, have mistaken the 

 song of the Sedge Warbler for that of this bird, 

 which is only a sort of chirp, and will not bear the 

 name of a song : with this chirp the male will en- 

 tertain the female for several hours during the time 

 of incubation, whilst sitting upon some tall tree. 



They remain in England the whole year, but on 

 the continent they appear to migrate between 

 Sweden and Italy ; passing in the spring and au- 

 tumn over the province of Lorrain. 



