Thp: Ortolan" Buxtixg 121 



Family— FRINGILLID. E. Subfamily— EMBERIZLW E. 



Tiiiv Ortulax Buxtixg. 



Emlio'i'-a hoiiiihuui, LiNX. 



" T N Scaudiuavia the uortheni limit of its breeding-rauge extends to the Arctic 

 I circle"; "'in the Ural Mountains it is not found further north than hit. 

 57°." "In Siberia, the eastward limit of its range appears to be the vallc}- 

 of the Irtish, as far as its source in the Altai Mountains ; thence it extends 

 westwards through Turkestan and Persia to Palestine and Asia Elinor. In all 

 these countries it is a summer migrant, and in the two latter it is principally 

 known as passing through on migration, though a few retire to the mountains to 

 breed. This appears to be the case also in Greece and Italy ; but to the rest of 

 Europe, south of the northern limits above mentioned, it is a regular summer 

 visitor. A few remain to breed in North-west Africa, but the majority passes 

 southwards in autumn, and doubtless winters somewhere in West Africa. It also 

 passes through Egypt on migration, and winters in Ab}-ssinia ; a few also winter 

 in North-west India." (Seebohm, Hist. Brit. Birds, Vol. II, pp. 153-4)- 



Although there can be little doubt that several of the Ortolans shot, captured, 

 or seen in Great Britain, have escaped from the poulterer's shops, having been 

 imported from the Continent to supply the tables of the wealthy ; the fact that it 

 is a common species at no greater distance than the north of France, renders its 

 occasional visits to our coasts extremely probable. The first recorded instance of 

 its occurrence was that of an example caught in Marylebone Fields, and figured 

 by Brown in 1776, since which time a good many specimens have been either 

 obtained or seen in various parts of England ; many others in Scotland, and 

 especially from Fair Isle, where a number arrived in May 1906, also one at least 

 from Ireland. 



The adult male Ortolan Bunting has the head, nape, and upper breast greenish- 

 grey ; eyelid whitish ; lores, a moustachial streak, the chin and fore-throat sulphur- 

 yellow ; back, wing-coverts, and secondaries pale reddish-brown, with blackish 

 central streaks to the feathers ; lower back and rump with barely defined streaks ; 

 the remaining feathers of the wings and the tail brown, the three outer tail 

 feathers, with large terminal patches of white on the inner webs; lower breast, 



vi.i II I 3 



