166 THE S21ALLER BRITISH BIRDS. 



As may be inferred from its specific name, {Jiortulana, from liortus, 

 a garden,) this bird is a frequenter of tlie cultivated garden and orchard, 

 but it also resorts to woods, hedges, and fields, especially those in the 

 neighbourhood of water. It feeds chiefly on insects during the early 

 part of the season, but afterwards on grain and the seeds of grasses. 

 Its nest is frequently built in a corn-field iu some slight hollow in 

 the ground, but sometimes in the lower branches of a tree or bush; 

 it is composed of dry grass and small roots, thickly lined with finer 

 portions of the latter, with occasionally a few hairs. The eggs, num- 

 bering from four to six, are bluish white or reddish grey, streaked 

 and spotted with blackish blue, but they vary much in colour. 



The song of this bird very much resembles that of the Yellow 

 Bunting, but it is rather clearer and not quite so harsh, although 

 equally monotonous. It is repeated frequently by the male during the 

 pairing season. 



In Italy, Germany, and France, great numbers of these birds are 

 captured in nets, and fattened for the table. Their flesh is much 

 esteemed, and is said to resemble that of the Snipe, but to be even 

 more delicate. Mr. Gould says that "when they are caught they are 

 kept in a dark room, and there fed with plenty of oats and millet 

 seed, upon which they quickly fatten." A correspondent of the "Illus- 

 trated London News," writes, "This is true only to a certain extent, 

 and is apt to mislead many of your readers. The fact is that the 

 Ortolan has a pecidiar habit of feeding, which is opposed to its rapid 

 fattening. To surmount this peculiarity, those who pander to the taste 

 of Italian gourmands, place the Ortolans in a warm chamber, perfectly 

 dark, with only one aperture in the wall. Their food is scattered over 

 the floor of the chamber. In the morning the keeper of the birds 

 places a lantern in the orifice of the wall; by the light thus thrown 

 in, the Ortolans, thinking the sun is about to rise, greedily consume 

 the food upon the floor. More food is scattered about, and the lantern 

 withdrawn. The Ortolans soon fall asleep. In about two hours the 

 whole process is repeated, and so on four or five times every day. 

 Tlie Ortolans thus treated become like little balls of fat in a few days." 

 When ready for the market the birds are killed, steeped in boiling 

 water, and packed in cask.s filled with spiced vinegar, to preserve them 

 for home use or exportation. During the later years of the Roman 

 Empire, when great wealth had produced its usual result of luxuriousness 

 and effeminacy, the delicacy of the flesh of the Ortolan was well known, 

 and immense numbers were eaten after being fattened in the same 

 miumer as in the present day. 



This species is a little smaller than the Yellow Bunting, the male 



