THE COMMON BUNTING. 



EMBERIZA MILIARIA. 



Upper parts yellowish brown, with dusky spots ; under parts yellowish while 

 spotted and streaked with dusky. Length seven inches and a half. Eggs dull 

 white, tinged with yellow or pink, and spotted and streaked with dark purple 

 brown. 



Though called the Common Bunting, this bird is by no 

 means so abundant in England as the Yellow Bunting ; its 

 name, however, is not misapplied, as it appears to be the 

 most generally diflPused of the family, being found all over 

 the European continent, in the islands of the Mediterranean, 

 in Asia Minor, and the north of Africa. In the latter 

 district it appears as a bird of passage in November ; and 

 about Martinmas it is so abundant as to become a staple 

 article of food. At this season, all the trees in the public 

 roads and squares of the villages are literally covered with 



