1 92 1.] Birds of Macedonia. 199 



Passer hispaniolensis. Spanish Sparrow. 



Seen occasionally with other Sparrows, but apparently- 

 very local in distribution. Several could usually be found 

 in Elisan. 



Petronia petronia. Tiock-S{)arrow. 



I have only one record and that concerns a pair breeding 

 at Orljak. I found a nest with young in a high bank. Tbe 

 nest was in a hole about fifteen feet from the ground, and 

 there is but little doubt that the hole was found ready made. 

 The behaviour of the female and the loud wheezv chiri'uping 

 of the young made the detection of this nest inevitable by 

 every person who passed by. Otherwise it would have been 

 difficult to locate on account of the many similar but 

 unoccupied holes in the same bank. Whenever I approached 

 both parents were somewhere near the hole. The male 

 would fly off to a wire fence about 15 yards away and remain 

 watching. It would call incessantly using a double note, but 

 nevertheless this parent would not excite itself unduly. The 

 female, however, would hopelessly betray the nest. It 

 would remain at the hole till the last moment in a very 

 agitated state. It would also return to the brood at the 

 earliest possible moment, and more often than not fly straight 

 into the hole. 



Emberiza calandra. Corn-Buntinir. 



Very common. Abundant in winter, and twittering 

 little flocks were seen everywhere. The gregarious habits 

 continued well into March, but when I went along the Orljak- 

 Kopriva road on the llth of April they seemed to have settled 

 down a bit. At Karamatli they nest side by side with the 

 Sjn-ikes and E. melanocephala. Nests were also plentiful at 

 Gramatna, at which place I found eggs up to the end of 

 June. Young birds at the beginning of July. A favourite 

 site for the nest was in a low bramble-bush growing near 

 the headland of a poor wheat or barley crop. In February 

 mixed flocks of (■orn- Buntings and Goldfinches were 



