1884-85.] Edinburgh Naturalists' Field Club. 203 



attain to the dignity of a song. Such music as they possess is of 

 the melancholy order, pretending to no variety — the same few- 

 notes, with a prolonged one to end up with, being repeated again 

 and again with monotonous frequency. In addition, mimicry 

 would not appear to be a feature of their character, and in many 

 other minor points they fall far short of several orders of birds in 

 point of interest. 



Having thus briefly recapitulated their drawbacks, let us now 

 turn to the more pleasing side of the subject, and attempt to point 

 out their good qualities and claims to our favourable consideration. 

 In general form they are rather stout, with well-marked plumage, 

 having in common shortish but strong bills of a conical structure, 

 which, from their formation, are admirably adapted for removing 

 the husks of grain and seeds, which form their staple diet. Inside 

 the upper mandible on the palate is a little hard projection which 

 materially assists the birds in shelling the grain — a propensity 

 which, if all tales are true, some members of the tribe indulge in to 

 no limited extent, this questionable conduct having frequently the 

 effect of rousing the wrath more or less always slumbering in 

 the bosom of that long-suffering martyr, the British agriculturist. 

 While speaking of this, it may safely be asserted that there is 

 almost no animal or bird, however destructive, which has not 

 some redeeming trait of character — in the self-same way that the 

 blackest villain shows on occasion a gleam of purer nature than 

 might have been expected to emanate from such a reprobate. So 

 the Buntings, although injurious to grain, offer a goodly compensa- 

 tion by devouring large numbers of beetles and other insects which, 

 but for the joint efforts of our feathered fauna, would, if unchecked, 

 do infinitely more harm to crops and other produce, in an insidious 

 and unpreventable manner, than whole armies of '' granivora?." 



Although previously designated as non-migratory, strictly speak- 

 ing this is not absoluely true, as partial migration takes place even 

 among the species which at all periods of the year may be observed 

 somewhere in our islands ; and it is believed that many of the 

 flocks which collect in autumn cross to the Continent during 

 winter, and that the numbers of the native species are reinforced 

 once more in spring — but whether by the same flocks who departed, 

 or not, it would be impossible to determine with accuracy. 



Of the ten species described in Newton's Yarrell, I shall only 

 bring under your notice four, the remaining six being so uncom- 

 mon that, save for chance wanderers, they may be said not to visit 

 Scotland. The names of the four are — 



Corn-Bunting, . . . Emhmza miliaria. 



Reed-Bunting, . . . Emheriza schcenidus. 



Yellow-Bunting, . . . Emheriza citrindla. 



Snow-Bunting, . . . Pledrophanes nivalis. 



