64 
ALLEN'S NATURALIST’S LIBRARY. 
sides and flanks. Total length, 6 inches ; culmen, C15 ; wing, 
3-0; tail, 2-o ; tarsus, 0-75. 
In winter the bird is much browner than in summer, the 
feathers having sandy edges, which gradually wear away in the 
spring, leaving the full plumage in its entirety, without any 
moult. 
Adult Female. — Differs from the male in wanting the black 
head and throat ; the under surface of the body white, with- 
out any yellow tinge ; the sides streaked with dusky brown ; 
breast distinctly streaked ; throat ashy fulvous, with a broad 
black streak on either side widening out on each side of the 
neck ; centre of crown brown, streaked with black, and re- 
sembling the back ; lesser 7 ving-coverts chestnut. Total length, 
5 "2 inches ; wing, 2 ‘9. 
Range in Great Britain. — Found everywhere, and breeding in 
suitable places, except in the Shetlands, where it is only an 
irregular visitor. 
Range outside Great Britain.- — Europe generally, extending 
east to the Yenesei Valley, and said to occur in Mongolia 
and Kamtchatka, but not extending north beyond the forest 
growth. It is certainly found in Central Asia and through- 
out Turkestan, occurring in North-western India in winter. 
In the countries of the Mediterranean it is replaced in many 
districts by the large Marsh Bunting ( Pyrrhulorhyncha palus- 
tris). 
Habits. — The Reed-Bunting is a familiar object on our 
marshes and rivers, the black-and-white head-dress of the male 
rendering him very conspicuous as he utters his twittering song 
from the top of some bulrush or low bush. It is a bird fre- 
quently to be observed in summer on the banks of the Thames 
and other rivers in England. In the autumn and winter the 
Reed-Buntings collect in considerable flocks and frequent 
the stubble-fields in company with Sparrows and Chaffinches. 
Large numbers visit our shores in autumn, and it was one of 
the most plentiful migrants which we saw in Heligoland. As 
is the case with most of our Finches, the food of the Reed- 
Bunting in summer consists largely of insects, but in winter it 
feeds chiefly on seeds and grain. 
