78 BIRDS. PASSERES. Embemza. 



Length 7\, breadth 11J inches ; weight about 2 ounces. Bill brown ; iri- 

 des dark hazel ; legs yellow. Throat white, with black spots ; belly white ; 

 wings and tail black, the coverts edged with yellowish-brown. Female like 

 the male. Nest on the ground like its congeners. Eggs 4, whitish, spotted 

 and veined with brown. The young have a reddish tinge. This bunting is 

 gregarious in winter, and is often taken in lark-nets, and brought to market. 

 It extends to the Zetland Islands. 



84. E. Schceniculus. Reed Bunting. — The head, chin, and 



throat black. 



Passer torquatus in arundinetis nidificans, Will. Orn. 136 E. sch. Linn. 



Syst. L 311. Penn. Brit. Zool. i. 326. Temm. Orn. i. 307 £, Reed 



Sparrow, Water-Sparrow; S, Black-Bonnet; W, Golfan-y-cyrs A 



common resident near marsh v ground. 



s* 



Length Gh, breadth 10 inches; weight ounce. Bill black ; i rides and feet 

 brown. A band of white commences at the corners of the mouth, and, grow- 

 ing broader behind the ears, encircles the head. Belly white. Back black, 

 the feathers edged with brown. Quills brown, with pale edges. Tail with 

 the two middle feathers brown, with pale edges ; the two exterior ones on 

 each side half white and half black, with a brown spot near the tip. In the 

 female the head is tinged with reddish-brown, the white on the belly inclines 

 to dusky, and there is no white ring round the head. Nest in grass or furze 

 near the ground, of dried stalks, lined with fine grass and hair. Eggs, 4, 

 bluish-white, with brown spots and veins. The white ring is wanting in the 

 young males — Gregarious in winter, and mixing with other species. *Does 

 not occur in the northern islands. 



85. E. nivalis. Snow-Bunting. — Tip of the bill, legs, feet, 

 and claws, black ; the claw of the hind-toe produced. 



Montifringilla calcaribus Alaudse, Will. 187 — Fringilla, Sibb. Scott. 18. 



— E. niv. Linn. Syst. i. 308 — Fab. Faun. Gr. 117 Penn. Brit. Zool. i. 



320. Temm. Orn. i. 319. S, Snowfiake ; W, Golfan-yr-eira ; G, Eun- 

 t-sneachdaidb A winter visitant. 



Length 6J, breadth 12^ inches; weight 1 J ounces. Bill black, vellow with- 

 in ; irides hazel. The head, neck, breast, belly, and rump white, with the 

 roots of the feathers black. Back black, with pale edges. Primaries black, 

 with a white base. Middle tail-feathers black, the three outer ones white 

 with a dusky spot near the end. In the female the black is paler, and the 

 white dusky. Nest in crevices of rocks, in May, constructed on the outside 

 with grass, lined with feathers, and then with hair. Eggs 5, white, with dusky 

 spots. In the young, the base of the bill is yellow, and the head, ear-coverts 

 breast, and sides, more or less mixed with chesnut. The feathers on the 

 back dusky, with rufous edges. In this state, or some of its numerous varie- 

 ties, it is the Tawny Bunting and Mountain Bunting of Penn. Brit. Zool. i. 

 327., and 321. — This bunting breeds in Greenland, visits this country in har- 

 vest, and retires in spring. It is first seen on the high ground in" stubble- 

 fields, and its motions resemble those of the lark. As the winter advances it 

 approaches the corn-yard, and feeds with the sparrow and finches. In Zetland 

 it is called Oat-fowl, from the preference which it gives to that kind of grain. 



As a straggler, may be noticed tYe E. cirus, Turton's Lin. Syst. i. 542., dis- 

 tinguished by having the head blue; belly orange ; back green. It is a na- 

 tive of South America. Montagu, in his Supplement to his Orn. Diet., ar- 

 ticle Grosbeak, says, " A painted Bunting, E. rims, was taken alive on Port- 

 land Island, in the year 1802, having doubtless made its escape from on board 

 some ship going up Channel, or that came to anchor off Weymouth. This bird 

 we saw alive in the possession of Mrs Stewart of that place." 



