REED BUNTING. 
313 
headed Hunting of British authors. — This dis- 
tinctly marked species differs considerably in its 
habits from those we have already described ; 
frequenting the vicinity of marshy places, among 
willow beds and reeds, and only coming to the 
vicinity of population when pursued by the 
severity of the weather. It is by no means 
uncommon in suitable places, continuing in pairs, 
and immediately shewing itself to an intruder by 
its restless flight and anxious note, and by perch- 
ing near the top of reeds or bushes which grow 
around. The undisturbed call is one of the most 
monotonous of the genus, and the bird will sit 
for a length of time constantly repeating the 
three or four notes which compose it, without 
any variation. On approaching the place where 
the nest is placed, the parents exhibit more than 
the usual anxiety, and have been said to use 
stratagem to decoy off the stranger ; when raised 
from the nest, the female flutters along the ground 
for a few yards, and then commences her anxious 
calls, in which she is soon joined by the male. 
The nest is placed in a tuft or hillock of grass, 
by the root of some bush, or among the 
taller herbaceous plants, and we have very fre- 
quently found it in plantations bordering some 
marshy spot, placed on a young spruce fir from 
one to three yards from the ground. It is formed 
of straw, dried grass, and roots, lined with fine 
grass or hair. The eggs purplish red, boldly 
marked and veined with dark brownish purple. 
The Reed Bunting is commonly distributed over 
