tab. 80, from a living specimen then in the possession of
Mr. Moon in Hyde Park, which was taken in Mary-la-bonne
Fields by a London bird-catcher. Dr. Latham describes
a Green-headed Bunting in the collection of Marmaduke
Tunstal, Esq. in the third volume of his Synopsis, page 2 1 1 ,
No. 61. From these sources a description of this bird was
copied by Gmelin, Lewin, Montagu, and others. Latham
and Montagu both express their doubts of its being a distinct
species, no other instances appearing to be recorded
than those before mentioned. To the Synopsis of the Newcastle
Museum, by George T. Fox, Esq. F.L.S. we are
indebted for much valuable information on various z o o l o g i c a l
subjects, and some particulars of the Green-headed Bunting.
From this gentleman’s statement, we learn that the specimen
of the Green-headed Bunting figured by Brown, while it was
alive in the possession of Mr. Moon, passed, when dead, into
the possession of Mr. Tunstal, and was preserved for his collection
; the same specimen had therefore furnished the materials
for each of the authors before enumerated. By the
kindness and influence of Mr. Fox, this specimen was a
few years ago sent up from Newcastle, and exhibited at a
meeting of the Linnean Society, and at the Zoological Club;
and no doubt remained in the minds of the members who
were conversant with birds, that the Green-headed Bunting
was only a variety of the Ortolon Bunting, the plumage
having become darker, the colours more intense,—a change
frequently produced by artificial food and long confinement.
Mr. Selby, who has had opportunities of comparing the
specimen in the Newcastle Museum with examples of the
true Ortolan Bunting, has recorded his opinion to the same
effect. From Mr. Fox we also learn that the Wycliffe collection,
which came under his inspection, contained a specimen
of the' Ortolan Bunting. Mr. Bewick, in the last
edition of his beautiful work on British Birds, and in the
Supplement to a previous edition, has given a figure and
description of the true Ortolan Bunting. This representation
was taken from a bird caught at sea, a few miles off
the Yorkshire coast, by the master of a trading vessel, in
May 1822. This specimen, which came into the possession
of Mr. Fox, was lent to Mr. Bewick for his use in his work
on British Birds. A fine male specimen was killed near
Manchester in November 1827 ; and in 1837 another male
Ortolan was caught near London, along with Yellow Buntings,
in a bird-catcher’s net, and deposited in the aviary at
the Zoological Gardens, as recorded by Mr. Blyth.
The Ortolan Bunting is only a summer visiter to the
middle and northern countries of Europe ; but considering
the high northern latitude which this bird attains every season,
it is rather matter of surprise that more specimens have
not been recorded as obtained in this country. It visits and
produces its young in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway ;
. and Linnæus, in his Tour, mentions having seen it in Lap-
land on the 22nd of May. M. Temminck says, it is sometimes
found in Holland. M. Viellot observes of this species,
in his Faune Française, that it is most numerous in
the southern parts of France, where it arrives about the same
time as the Swallows, and a little before the Quails. Mr.
Hoy, in a letter to me, says in reference to the habits of
this bird on a part of the Continent farther north than that
referred to by M. Vieillot, il that it makes its appearance
at the beginning of May, and almost immediately pairs and
commences building ; its monotonous chirping notes are
heard the whole day long ; these birds prefer light sandy
soils, and build invariably on the ground in fields of corn,
at least, I have never met with a nest in any other situation
; those I found were placed in a slight hollow, were
something similar to the nest of the Sky Lark, but rather
more compact ; the interior lined with fine grass and a few