REED-BUNTING 



D5:) 



British example taken at Brighton in 1864. In 1902 the species 

 was recorded from Teesmouth, Durham, and near Rugby ; two years 

 later an example was taken in Orkne)', and in 1907 nine examples 

 were seen in Fair Isle. 



The presence of black streaks on the white of the flanks is a 

 distinctive feature of the dwarf bunting, which measures only 4^ inches 

 in length. In the rustic bunting {Enibcriza j-nstica), which is a quarter 

 of an inch longer, on the other hand, the streaks in this region are 

 chestnut-red. This bunting has a distribution very similar to that of 

 the last ; and at the close of the last century the British examples 

 included one from Brighton in i 867, a second from Yorkshire in i 88 i, 

 and a third from Elstree reservoir in the following year. A fourth 

 example was taken in Sussex in 1902. 



A third species rarely visiting the British Isles is the black-headed 

 bunting {^Eniberiza nielanocep/iala), whose range extends in summer 

 from southern Europe to the Caucasus and Persia, and includes India 

 in winter. The cock in breeding-plumage is characterised by his full 

 black head, the absence of streaks on the flanks, and his large size 

 (7 inches in length). Very few British records for this species during the 

 nineteenth century are admitted, including one at Brighton in i 868, and 

 another in Nottinghamshire in 1884. A female was also taken in Fair 

 Isle, Shetland, in 1907, stated to be the fifth British specimen. Of the 

 Siberian and Chinese Brandt's bunting {Embcriza cioidcs) one example 

 was taken at Flamborough Head in 1886; while of the south European 

 meadow-bunting {E. cm) two specimens were recorded from Sussex in 

 1902, and a third was taken in Kent in the spring of 1905. In the 

 autumn of the same year an example of the yellow-breasted bunting 

 {Emberiza aureola) was shot in Norfolk. The species breeds at Archangel. 



Far less uncommon is the ortolan, or ortolan-bunting {Emberiza 

 Jwrttilana), which is indeed almost entitled to a definite place in the 

 British list. Measuring 6 inches in length, the adult cock is specially 

 characterised by the cinnamon-tint of the abdomen, the olive-}-ellow 

 throat, the more ashy breast, the absence of streaks on the flanks, and 

 the wholly red beak. Apparently arriving from Africa in spring, the 

 ortolan spreads itself over southern and central Europe in summer 

 (where some are permanent residents), whence individuals occasionally 

 straggle to the British Islands. The first known of these stragglers 

 was taken so long ago as the year 1776; and several instances of 

 the occurrence of the species in England were recorded during the 

 nineteenth century. There are also a few Scotch records, including 

 some from Fair Isle, and at least one from Ireland. 



