368 
British Birds. 
and again, but what I like still more is setting them free and 
I notice that, with rare exceptions, they are jolly glad to go. 
One of the advantages, I think, of keeping British birds (in- 
stead of foreigners), is that one can set them free. 
I generally use a large net-trap for this purpose, re- 
leasing the trigger with a long line. I had used this same 
trap dozens of times and had never had an accident, but, 
as I said before, nothing has gone (juite as it should this 
season, and, when I pulled the line for the third and last 
time, the wire rim struck the bird in mid -air and there lay 
the limp and lifeless body of the one and only hen Stonechat 
which (as far as my information goes) ever reared young m 
an aviary. This was how I rewarded her! 
The two young Stonechats soon began to moult .and 
proved to be both males. Their backs became darker and 
their breasts more buff. By the 10th September, the white 
patch on the wings was showing well. I released one: the 
other is still in the aviary in fine condition, and very tame. 
By the 5th October he had the pure white crescent across 
the throat and the crown was partially black, and by the 
middle of November his breast was as deep a tan as that of 
any adult male. 
Nesting of the Reed Bunting 
{Emhe riza scJi am iclus). 
Two years since I contributed some notes to our Maga- 
zine concerning the nesting of the Cirl Bunting. This season 
I made a special effort to breed the Reed Bunting. Re- 
garded as a family, the Buntings cannot be said to be free 
breeders in captivity, but, when they really mean business 
they certainly do not do things by halves. My five Reed 
Buntings (2 males and 3 females) have this summer built 
four nests, laid sixteen eggs, hatched seven (I removed eight 
eggs) and reared three young. I have not space to describe the 
whole of these events in detail. The old pa'ir hatched and 
tended the young most carefully, but did not succeed in I'oar- 
iiig them, possibly because they were rather old for breed- 
ing (they had been 2\ years in the aviary). The old male 
would oidy pair with one female, but tlie ydunyer male paired 
wilii two hens and assisted both the latter in incul)ating the 
