24 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



common many pairs may be found nesting within a very 

 small area. This bird pairs annually, and the evidence 

 seems to suggest that the event takes place before 

 departure from the winter quarters in India. The 

 favourite haunts of this Bunting during the breeding 

 season appear to be the lower mountain slopes and 

 uneven plains at no great distance from the sea. It does 

 not, however, go so far up the mountains as the pine 

 regions. In these districts it frequents gardens, vine- 

 yards, olive-groves, and the open rough country clothed 

 with a luxuriant growth of clematis, fig, almond, pome- 

 granate, oleander and briars, and studded with rock 

 fragments. Here the Black-headed Bunting is just as 

 pertinacious as its cousin the Yellow Bunting is in our 

 English fields, and the males may be seen sitting con- 

 spicuously on the tall bushes and trees singing in rivalry. 

 The nest of this species, built at no great distance from 

 the ground, and even on the ground itself, is made in 

 a dense bush or amongst the wild untrimmed growth of 

 briar, clematis, or vine, whilst in gardens rows of peas 

 or beans are generally selected. The nest, which is cup- 

 shaped, is made externally of coarse grass, the dry stems 

 of plants, with the seeds or dry flowers attached, and 

 dead leaves, and internally of dry grass bents, roots, and 

 hair, although the latter material is not always used, 

 probably because it is not available. The nest is a 

 remarkably easy one to find, and very often the obtruding 

 loquacious male betrays its whereabouts. The female, 

 in her much more sombre dress, is quiet and unassuming, 

 and sits closely. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Black-headed Bunting are without the 

 characteristics of most Buntings' eggs. They are from 

 four to six in number, four or five being most frequently 

 found. The ground colour is very pale greenish-blue; 



