SNOW-BUNTING.
clap-nets on tin* ilnnns near Brighton, and still more liy tin' drag-nets at night. Though such immense numbers
make their nay tooth in winter, the hill-tons ¡11 the Highlands are not entirely deserted nt that season. When
riarniigan-shooliug on the hills in the north-east uf Perthshire, In Dceemh T ISll", 1 repeatedly found flocks on the
higher slopes of the snniv-clad mountains. I was rather amused at the description given by a forester iu
Inverness of the nature of the ground on the summit of the inouutains to which this bird resorted. " The
hill-top," he remarked, " was a very vulgar place."
On the 29th of October, 1S7U, the weather being stormy at the time, there wore large flocks of these birds
on the denes near the harhour-mouth at Yarmouth ; occasionally during the following week 1 remarked they
•were intermixed with Shore-Larks. Many small thicks of Snow-Huntings were seen on the south denes near
Yarmouth about the middle of February 15"*2; some were exceedingly light-c dourcd, with much white
showing, and others very dark. Several specimens exhibiting various stages of plumage were shot iu n sandpit
near the shore, between the town anil the hurbour-uioulh.
I have a few entries in my notes, taken while staying at Yarmouth iu the autumn of 1»72, referring to
Snow- Huntings, and they are us follows :—
"September 2litb. Weather rough, wind south-west. Three Snow-Buntings, the ilrst 1 had met with this
season, were shot on the south denes, and proved to he two males and a female. During the remainder of
the t i m t passed at Yarmouth, I seldom went along the denes without observing several along the side of the
carriage-drive ; they generally showed in the greatest numbers in rough weather.
" October 31st. There was to-day a large addition to the flock of Snow-Buntings ou the south denes ;
most of the fresh airivals were i lark -coloured, being, I suppose, young birds of the year.
"November 1st. Steamed out of Yarmouth harbour, round the Berber Sands otFCaistor, which were, as
usual, covered with Gulls ; 1 noticed • few dark-coloured birds among them, but, on approaching as close as
we were able and using the glasses, it was ascertained that they were only Grey Crows. Larks, Hooks, and a
few small flocks of Snow-Buntings were the only birds I observed at sea making for land.
" November 5th. Steamed from Yarmouth os far south as I»wesloft, and afterwards hack to Caister; no
birds of passage seen with the exception of a few Hooks aud a small party of Snow-Buntings."
On the 12th of November I was again enabled to make observations ou these birds. This was the second
day of the terrible storm that, commencing on Monday the 11th of November, continued, with a lull of only a
few hours on Friday morning, till Saturday the Kith ; then several of the larger iishing-hoals left the harbour,
but before they could get clear of the sands it eamo on to blow harder from the east-north-east and they were
all forced to put hack.
"The gale this morning was blowing from the east-north-east. Several flocks of fowl were still flying
north, hut the number of Dunlins that (Missed were not to he compared with those observed the previous
day. The Snow-Buntings had received large additions, aud the flock must have numbered between two and
three hundred. Their favourite haunt and rcsting-ground seemed to be the carriage-drive along the shore from
the town towards the harbour-muuth, though what fuod they could rind there I was unable to discover."
B U N T I N G .
EMEERIZA MILIARIA.
COMMON iu the south, and distributed by no means sparingly over many of the eultivaled districts in the
northern and western Highlands, this species is well known iu most parts of the British Islands. According
to my own oliservalions, it is more numerous in Sussex {especially within a few miles of the sea-coast) than iu
any other county where I have met with a chance of studying its habits.
During summer the Common Hunting is usually to he seen in the immediate vieinity of hay-tlelds. Tho
male, perched cither ou some commanding twig along a hedgerow, or on the topmost, bar of a pust-uud-rail
fence, is sure to attract attention while uttering from time to time his somewhat monotonous song. Here by
the roadside In' vi ill await within a few yards the approach of passers by (I have frequently driven past one
within six feet without his exhibiting the slighti-st sign of alarm I, ami then with drooping legs and an
apparently laboured flight, will flutter some forty or liftv yards into the field, and take up a position on any
rank plant or strand of grass that will sustain his weight. From this point of vantage he » ill again contiii.ii'
to drone out his harsh and tuneless ditty.
This species appears to lie late in nesting; I have repeatedly seen fresh eggs mown out in June when the
hay was cut—the lields of seed-grass being the favourite breeding-quarters of Ibis Ituiii ing iu Sii-se\ : I heir
nests are also occasionally discovered under the shelter of coarse herbage on the furze-covered downs. I am
not aware of any eggs that vary !» a greater extent ; at times they differ but slightly from those of the Yellow
Hammer, while clutches may now and then lie seen blotched and scrawled hi every conceivable manner with a
rich red-brown. Lggs taken in the east of Sussex, 1 remarked iu several instances, boih iu shape and
colouring, bore but a very slight resemblance to those procured to the west of Brighton.
As early as the last week in August I have noticed these birds especially numerous along the south
coast and commencing to flock. Whether these were all natives of the district, or visitors from more northern
localities, it was impossible to form an opinion. On the approach of winter large liodies collect and roost iu
the marine weeds growing on the mudllats above high-water mark iu Shorehuin llarbmr. Soon after ?< P.M.
they may be seen thing singly or in small parties from the surrounding country, and, after hovering round a
few times, pitching straight dow u into the thick cover. If disturbed when their quarters are once taken up,
it would he discovered that the birds were scattered over several acres of the flats—one, two, or three rising
here and there, wherever the cover was most dense. It is not, till early hi the spring thai this situation is
totally deserted ; I have watched a few scattered birds gathering towards the harbour shortly before sunset as
late as the beginning of April.
The upper mandible of this Bunting is furnished with a very prominent protuberance or tooth. This is
supposed to assist the bird in shelling the various seeds which form the principal part of its food.