E m b e r iza m il ia b ia , Linnaeus*.
THE BUNTING.
Emberiza miliaria.
T h e B u n t in g or Common Bunting, as most English
writers for nearly a century have called it—though it is by
no means the commonest or the best-known of the group of
birds named from it—is yet of frequent occurrence in nearly
all the cultivated districts of this country, and remains here
throughout the year. Being most usually observed upon
arable land and especially in corn-fields, it has obtained in
many parts of the kingdom the distinguishing epithet of
Corn-Bunting, while in others it is only known as the
Bunting-Lark. It is perhaps most numerous in the southern
counties of England, hut, as will presently be seen, it is also
found in the extreme north and west of our islands. During
spring and especially summer, this bird, the largest of the
* Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 308 (1766).
Buntings, and remarkable for the clumsiness of its figure,
may be often seen perched by the roadside on one of the
upper branches of a hedge, or on a tall weed, where it utters
its droning, harsh and unmusical song, which is sometimes
continued as it flies from spray to spray or lazily glides
with hanging legs a short distance over the adjoining field.
Though said by some authors to finish its nest about the
middle or towards the end of April, in most districts it is
certainly one of the latest birds to begin the business of
nidification, and it seldom has eggs before the middle of
May, while the time that they may be generally looked for
is perhaps a month later. The nest is usually placed on or
very near the ground, in a field of pease or red clover, among
the stalks of which it is generally built, though it may be
also found concealed in any coarse herbage or tangled briars.
It is composed of straw and fibrous roots, mixed with some
dry grass, and is lined with finer blades of the last material
with the occasional addition of a few horsehairs. The eggs
are from four to six in number, of a dull purplish-white, but
often tinged with ochreous, sometimes so much so as to be
altogether clay-coloured, with patches of dull lavender,
specks, streaks and blotches of deep dark brown, almost
black, as are some irregular lines; the blotches are sometimes
sharp and well-defined, but nearly always part at least
of their edges are blurred : the eggs measure from L04 to '9
by from *74 to *65 in.
The adults feed principally on seeds and grain, for the
breaking or shelling of which the palatal knob and the
elevated cutting edges of the lower mandible would seem to
be admirably adapted; but it is stated by Macgillivray and
some others that the Buntings swallow their food unpeeled,
while Naumann on the other hand asserts the contrary.
The young while nestlings are probably fed with insects, and
Mr. Gould mentions having seen the adults feeding on the
common cockchafer.
Though living in pairs during the spring and summer,
this species becomes gregarious through autumn and winter,
associating in flocks with Chaffinches, Sparrows and other