EMBERIZA SCHOENICLUS.

Syst. Nat. 311.

THE REED SPARROW.

PLATE XIX.

THE bill is straight, sharp pointed, of a dusky yellow colour, and has a rising angle on each side of the lower chap.

The eyes are brown, having a narrow circle of white downy feathers round them.

The head of the cock is black, but, at the approach of winter, changes to hoary, resuming, on the return of spring, its pristine jettyness. The cheeks brown red. Round the neck is a white ring, which takes its rise at the angles of the mouth on each side. The back is of a tawny brown, with a black line down the middle of each feather. About the rump there is a mixture of ash-colour with the brown. The quills are of a dusky brown, with rust-coloured edges. The first and second covert feathers of a dusky black, with broader edges, and tips of a rust-colour. The chin and throat in the male are black, the breast and belly white. On the sides, the middle of the feathers are dusky.

The tail is a little forked; it consists of twelve feathers, of which the middle two are black, with red edges; the three next, on each side, are dusky, with red edges; the fifth is white on the outer border, and the sixth wholly white.

The hen has no black on the head or throat, and the general hue of her feathers is paler and duller than that of the cock.

The cock sings pleasantly; his voice, as well as his notes, are much finer and more pleasing than any other bird of the same family. Like the nightingale, he sings by night as well as by day.

This bird derives its name from frequenting and nestling among reeds, and it is therefore supposed that its food is chiefly found in marshy places.

It is, however, frequently seen on high lands, by road sides, and sometimes in corn fields. It generally keeps near the ground, and seldom perches except among low bushes.

During the time of hatching, the male has a soft melodious warbling song, whilst he sits perched among the reeds, solacing with his music his anxious mate, which he frequently continues through the greater part of the night.

It is a watchful timorous bird, and, when in a state of captivity, sings but little, unless perfectly undisturbed.

Birds of this species are said to be migratory in France, but with us they remain the whole year, and are seldom seen in flocks of more than three or four together.

They are found throughout Europe, and in Southern Siberia. There are two other varieties; one brown, cinereous beneath, which frequents the Cape of Good Hope; the other white, with dusky wings, is an inhabitant of Astrachan.

NEST AND EGGS OF THE REED SPARROW.

PLATE XX.

THE reed sparrow makes her nest near some river, lake, or pond; sometimes concealing it amongst sedges, fern, or rushes; rarely, she suspends it between the stalks of the common *English reed, as in the instance before us. The nest now described was suspended between three stems of reed, the leaves of which were drawn together in such a manner as to form a slight kind of lattice-work, upon which the foundation of the nest was laid. The nest almost wholly consisted of broken pieces of dried rushes; the stronger placed near the bottom, the finer round the brim. A few sprigs of moss were mixed amongst the rushes, and the whole artfully bound together with the blades of the growing reed. The lining consisted of cow's hair. The reeds grew in a still pond, and the nest was placed about a foot above the surface of the water.

The hen lays four or five eggs of a dull white, very prettily veined, and spotted with dark purple.

The reed sparrow feeds on insects, on corn, on the seeds of grass, and reeds.

It is also called black headed bunting and reed bunting.

• Arundo Phragmitis.