The adult has the forehead, cheeks, and chin black; rest of upper parts deep reddish brown, brightest on the rump; under parts bright yellow with a narrow chestnut collar across the upper breast. Length 5 in.; wing 3·1 in. The female is much duller, and in winter the colours in both sexes are obscured by long greyish margins.
REED BUNTING
Emberiza schœniclus, Linnæus
The Reed Bunting is an inhabitant of marshy places where osiers, alders, and long rough sedgy grass and reeds abound, and in such localities it is by no means uncommon. In summer the male may often be seen clinging to some reed stem, as he sings his very short and feeble song. Owing to his black head and white collar, which enable him to be very easily distinguished, he is known in some parts of the country as the Black-headed Bunting. The true Black-headed Bunting is, however, a very different bird, but it so rarely occurs in this country that the confusion likely to arise is not very serious. The nest is placed on the ground in the rough grass at the base of some shrub, or in the side of a tussock, and always near water. It is a fairly neat structure, built, like the nests of all Buntings, of grass, bents, and moss, with a lining of hair. The eggs, four to six in number, are very characteristic of this species, the ground colour is usually purplish grey, boldly blotched, marked and streaked with dark brown. Very handsome clutches are sometimes found, in which the ground colour is pale green, showing off the dark scrolls and blotches to great advantage. If the nest be discovered and frequently visited after the young are hatched, they will leave it at a very early age, long before they can fly. In such cases, however, the anxiety of the parent birds as they fly round and round the spot soon leads to the discovery of their children.
Except under stress of weather, it is a very resident species, seldom leaving its favourite haunts, but sometimes in winter, when these are frozen over, it will be found in the fields consorting with large flocks of Buntings and Finches. As a rule, however, it is by no means gregarious, rarely more than ten or twelve being found together.
In summer the male has the whole of the head and chin deep black, surrounded by a white collar and having a white stripe along the line of the lower mandible. Mantle and wings black with broad rufous and grey edgings. Rump grey streaked with black. Under parts white striped with brown on the flanks. In winter the black and white of the head and neck are largely obscured by pale brownish margins to each feather.
The female has the upper parts tawny brown with darker centres to the feathers. Under parts pale buff streaked with brown. The young resemble the female. Length 6 in; wing 3 in.
THE LAPLAND BUNTING
Calcarius lapponicus (Linnæus)
This species is only known to us by the appearance of a few stragglers that have wandered here from time to time in autumn and winter, though during the last few years its occurrences have been more numerous and regular, especially along our eastern and south-eastern shores. In its winter dress it bears at a distance a superficial resemblance to the Lark, and from being found in situations, viz. salt marshes near the coast, where the latter is also abundant it has probably frequently been overlooked.
It is another of those species whose home is circumpolar, and rears its young on the lonely tundras of Lapland, Novaya Zembla, and Franz Josef Land. In winter it moves southward, but becomes scarce south of the Baltic and is unknown in Italy, the south of France, and Spain. As mentioned above, the adult in winter is not unlike a Lark at a distance, but in summer the male is a very handsome bird. The crown, cheeks, throat, and breast are black, the hind neck is banded with deep chestnut, which is separated from the black of the head by a white stripe, which, starting behind the eye, runs backwards for a short distance and then turns downwards, to lose itself in the white of the abdomen. The rest of the upper parts are brownish with darker centres to the feathers, while the under parts are white with dark streaks on the flanks. In winter the brighter colours are hidden by long brown margins to the feathers which wear off in spring. The female retains her dull dress throughout the year.
The hind claw in this species is straight and longer than the toe. Length 6·25 in.; wing 3·6 in.