26 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



Arctic circle in Scandinavia, but not beyond lat. 57° in 

 the Urals. It also breeds in Asia Minor, Palestine, 

 Persia, Turkestan, and Siberia, as far east as the valley 

 of the Irtish and the Great Altai. It is said also to 

 breed sparingly in North-west Africa, but details of its 

 distribution are wanting. 



Breeding habits : The Ortolan Bunting arrives at 

 its more southerly breeding grounds in Europe during 

 the first half of April, but it is about a month later in 

 the northern districts. The haunts of this species are in 

 cultivated localities as well as in mountain forest areas, 

 and the more open country in wilder districts. Of its 

 pairing habits we possess no information, but doubtless 

 the bird mates annually. The nest, made on the ground, 

 is generally concealed amongst herbage or under the 

 shelter of a low bush, frequently amongst the grass in 

 an open field or on a hassock of drier vegetation in a 

 wet meadow or clearing of the forest. It is cup-shaped 

 and somewhat loosely made, composed externally of dry 

 grass, stalks of plants and coarse roots, and lined with 

 fine roots and hair. The female, like most ground- 

 building birds, is a close sitter, and when flushed makes 

 little or no demonstration at the nest. This species is 

 neither gregarious nor social during the breeding season, 

 living in scattered pairs. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Ortolan Bunting are usually five, but 

 four and six are sometimes found. They vary in ground 

 colour from bluish-white to very pale purplish-gray, 

 spotted and blotched, and more rarely streaked with very 

 dark purplish-brown and paler brown, and with under- 

 lying markings of gray. As a rule the spots are large 

 and round, but the streaks and lines are short and not 

 continuous. As usual most of the colouring is on the 

 larger end of the ^gg, and frequently forms a zone. 



