254 EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



THE BLACK-HEADED BUNTING. 

 {Ember iza melanocephala.) 



Plate 58, Figs. 6, 7. 



The claim of the Black-headed Bunting to be considered a 

 British bird rests upon a solitary example said to have been shot 

 near Brighton. In Italy it breeds in the Riviera and on both 

 shores of the Adriatic. It is a common summer visitor to Greece 

 and Turkey, and I have shot it as far north as the Dobrudscha. 

 It is equally common in Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Palestine and 

 Persia, passes through Afghanistan and Scinde on migration, and 

 winters in Western and Central India. 



The nest is rather a bulky structure, and though neatly finished 

 inside, has a somewhat loose and ragged appearance outside. The 

 foundation is made of dry grass, thistle-leaves, and other coarse 

 material ; but the main portion of the nest is constructed entirely 

 of the yellow dry stalks of various small flowering plants, the 

 seed-capsules of which are the most prominent object, and, con- 

 joined with the stiffness of the stalks, which prevents them from 

 bending easily, give the nest a very slender and unfinished look. 

 The lining is of entirely different materials, brown instead of 

 yellow, and consists of dry grass, roots and slender stalks, without 

 any seed-capsules, with not unfrequently a final addition of goat's 

 hair, or a few horse-hairs. The inside diameter is 2f inches, with 

 a depth of 2 inches. 



The eggs of this bird are usually four in number, not unfre- 

 quently five ; but on the Island of Corfu it is said to lay as many 

 as six. Few eggs vary so much in size or shape : a typical egg 

 measures 0'85 by 0'7 inch ; an unusually long and narrow egg is 

 l'O by 0"6 inch ; and an unusually small egg is 0'84 by 0'6 inch. 

 There is scarcely any difference in the ground-colour, which only 

 varies from pale greenish-blue to very pale greenish-blue ; the 

 overlying spots are brown and the underlying spots are grey. On 

 some eggs all the spots are small, on others they are all large ; 

 but more generally both large and small spots are found on the 

 same egg. They are generally most thickly distributed on the 

 large end, sometimes confluent, but occasionally are evenly distri- 

 buted over the entire surface. 



