CORN BUNTING. 



53 



growing corn, or beneath a tuft of grass, or the shelter 

 of a tall plant or bush. The nest, which is somewhat 

 carelessly and loosely put together, is made externally of 

 dry grass, moss, roots, " bull polls " or tufts of " twitch," 

 and a few dead leaves, and lined with finer grass, roots, 

 and hair. The female sits closely, until almost trodden 

 upon in fact ; but the male too often spoils his mate's 

 precautions against discovery, by sitting poised on some 

 stem, or even on the ground close by, droning out his 

 monotonous song, and calling attention to its presence. 

 The Corn Bunting is not at all social during the breeding 

 season, and keeps in scattered pairs. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs are from four to six in number. They vary in 

 ground colour from pale buff to grayish-white, often 

 tinted with purple ; the surface-spots, streaks, and 

 blotches vary from pale brown to very dark purplish- 

 brown, and the underlying markings are various shades 

 of violet-gray. Some eggs are much more boldly and 

 intricately streaked than others; some have the blotches 

 large and pale, distributed over most of the surface; some 

 have the markings collected in an irregular zone round 

 the larger end ; whilst others are so thickly marked, either 

 with surface-spots and streaks, or underlying markin^-s, 

 as to hide most of the ground colour. The eggs in each 

 clutch are generally pretty uniform in character and 

 appearance, however, in spite of the wide variation of 

 colour and markings. Average measurement, -98 inch 

 in length, by 7 inch in breadth. The female performs 

 the greater part of the task of incubation, which lasts 

 fourteen days. 



Diagnostic characters : The large size of the 

 eggs of the Corn Bunting readily distinguish them from 

 those of all other allied species breeding in the British 

 Islands. 



