EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 249 



Palaearctic region, with the exception of Palestine and the 

 tundra of the north beyond the limit of forest-growth. 



The nest is made of various materials ; in some districts dry 

 grass, moss, and withered leaves of rushes form the outside, and 

 fine grass and hairs finish off the interior ; whilst in more swampy 

 places it is almost exclusively made of dry bents and reed-stems, 

 the feathery tops of which form the lining. 



The eggs are from four to six in number, sometimes only three. 

 They vary in ground-colour from greyish-olive to purplish-buff, 

 spotted, streaked, and blotched with rich purplish-brown, almost 

 black. Many of the streaks are underlying and pale violet-grey 

 in colour, and almost all of the surface-spots are more or less 

 blurred at the edges. The streaks are much thicker and much 

 less tortuous than those on the eggs of the Yellow Hammer, nor 

 are they so long, as a rule, or so numerous ; they are very bold, 

 some of the spots being as large and round as No. 4 shot, and 

 they are generally distributed over the entire surface of the egg. 

 They are not subject to any considerable amount of variation, and 

 are not easily confused with those of any other British species. 

 They vary in length from - 85 to 0'68 inch, and in breadth from 

 0-6 to 0-54 inch. 



THE EUSTIC BUNTING. 

 {Emberiza rustica.) 



Plate 58, Fig. 5. 



Three or four specimens of the Eustic Bunting, another East 

 European and Siberian species, have been captured in the British 

 Islands, thus well-establishing its claim to rank amongst our 

 accidental visitors. The range of the Eustic Bunting is very 

 similar to that of the Little Bunting, but extends slightly 

 further to the west. It does not go so far north to breed, 

 neither does it winter so far south. 



The ground-colour of the eggs varies from greenish-white to 

 bluish-white, and the overlying spots are greenish-brown and the 

 underlying spots greyish-brown. The spotting is very profuse 

 and more or less confluent at the large end of the egg ; but there 

 are no streaks, the character of the egg being that of a Sparrow 



