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THE BUNTINGS.
EMBERIZIX.^.
"R. Seebolim gives the following diameters for distinguisliiiig the Buntings
from other Finches:—"Their gape-line is not straight, as in most birds,
nor arched as in Pyrrhula and Carpodacus, bnt has an angle in the centre, the
palate furnished with a hard horny knob. The lower mandible is laterally compressed,
so as to form a sort of a^^-il for this knob. The nostrils are partly
hidden by short feathers, and the rictal bristles are almost obsolete. In a few of
the species the hind claw is elongated something like that of a Lark or a Pipit."
"Their flight is strong and undulating, and on the ground they both hop and
run." This last statement, however true of European species, does not apply to
some of the foreigners, which hop and never run; neither, if universal, would it
serve to distinguish them from the typical Friugilliue genus Fringilla, or from Sycalis.
Dr. Sharpe gives the following characters:—"Crrtting-edges of the mandibles
not conterminous, leaving a gap in the outline of the closed bill; mandibular angle
at chin very acute." In his notes on the family Fringillida:, however, he says,—
"No one has as yet propounded a satisfactory classification of the Fringillida!, the
difficulty consisting in the complete connection which exists between the various
genera of Finches and Buntings, and such ornithologists only who have not entered
into a detailed study of this family will speak of the Finches, Buntings, and their
allies, as if they constituted well-defined families. And one who has worked upon
a large or small fragment of the family must acknowledge that the definition of
the genera is difficult and the recognition of subfamilies almost impossible. The
Fringillida: naturally group themselves into three divisions—Grosbeaks, Finches,
and Buntings; but numerous forms connect them, being referable to the confines
of any of the three groups. Thus Cardinalis will probably be found from its
osteology to be a Bunting with the aspect of a Grosbeak; while Urocyuchramus
is certainly a Bunting with the aspect of a Rose-Finch, or, if it be preferred, a
Rose-Finch with the bill of a Bunting."
The Buntings. 49
"Every division of the family is therefore to be accepted on the score of convenience,
rather than as having a foundation of solid structural characters."—Catalogue
of Birds, vol. XII.
One point of considerable interest with regard to this group of birds needs
elucidation. Do the Buntings feed their young from the crop, after the manner of
Finches? I am strongly of opinion that they do, but that they also give soft
insects, small caterpillars, etc., in an undigested condition: never having bred any
true Buntings, I have been unable to ascertain the real facts of the case.
I have proved that Syealis, a very Bunting-like genus of Finches, does feed
from the crop, and anyone may see for himself that Passer does so;* all the true
Finches and the small Ploceine Finches have the same characteristic: it would
therefore be extremely odd if the Buntings should be an exception to the rule:
indeed the fact, attested by Dr. Carl Russ aud Herr August Wiener, that the Indigo
Bunting has been successfully crossed with the Canary, seems almost to prove the
regurgitating faculty to be a property of the Emberizina, in common with other
Finches.
The Buntings are decidedly more insectivorous than the majority of the typical
Fiuches, or even than the Ploceida;: indeed, to the latter, insect food is a luxury
rather than a necessity, and most of them entirely ignore it, when offered to them;
the true Weavers, however, are rather fond of spiders, mealwonns, aud small
caterpillars, as also are some of the Waxbills.
On the other hand, the Emberizince are much less eager for green food than
the Fringillincc; frequently refusing it altogether when it is provided. They
however resemble the true Finches in their fondness for soft food, but especially
when breeding.
* Even this fact lias been rtenied by some of tliose who niighl as well be blind, for all the nse tliey appear
to have made of their eyes.
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