THE BUNTINGS 



None of the typical Buntings can perliaps be 

 classed as songsters of high merit, but some at least 

 of the more aberrant species possess vocal powers 

 of considerable beauty The typical Buntings form 

 a group nearly allied to the Finches, from which 

 they are distinguished by their angular gape, the 

 edges of the closed mandibles not meeting through- 

 out their length, but forming a conspicuous gap 

 midway between the gape and the tip. The palate 

 is also furnished with a hard knob which serves as 

 an anvil on which the seeds which compose their 

 principal food are cracked open. It is impossible 

 yet to give the exact number of species which may 

 have to be included in the present family, but the 

 more typical members of it may be set down as 

 between forty and fifty. The majority of Buntings 

 are found in what has been described as the Holarctic 

 realm, or North America, Europe, and the northern 

 half of Asia. Some species are found in Africa, 



parts of Southern Asia, and South America, but the 

 185 



