BUNTING. 39 



Buntings, and remarkable for the clumsiness of its figure, 

 may be often seen perched by the roadside on one of the 

 upper branches of a hedge, or on a tall weed, where it utters 

 its droning, harsh and unmusical song, which is sometimes 

 continued as it flies from spray to spray or lazily glides 

 with hanging legs a short distance over the adjoining field. 

 Though said by some authors to finish its nest about the 

 middle or towards the end of April, in most districts it is 

 certainly one of the latest birds to begin the business of 

 nidification, and it seldom has eggs before the middle of 

 May, while the time that they may be generally looked for 

 is perhaps a month later. The nest is usually placed on or 

 very near the ground, in a field of pease or red clover, among 

 the stalks of which it is generally built, though it may be 

 also found concealed in any coarse herbage or tangled briars. 

 It is composed of straw and fibrous roots, mixed with some 

 dry grass, and is lined with finer blades of the last material 

 with the occasional addition of a few horsehairs. The eggs 

 are from four to six in number, of a dull purplish-white, but 

 often tinged with ochreous, sometimes so much so as to be 

 altogether clay- coloured, with patches of dull lavender, 

 specks, streaks and blotches of deep dark brown, almost 

 black, as are some irregular lines ; the blotches are some- 

 times sharp and well-defined, but nearly always part at least 

 of their edges are blurred : the eggs measure from 1*04 to '9 

 by from *74 to *65 in. 



The adults feed principally on seeds and grain, for the 

 breaking or shelling of which the palatal knob and the 

 elevated cutting edges of the lower mandible would seem to 

 be admirably adapted ; but it is stated by Macgillivray and 

 some others that the Buntings swallow their food unpeeled, 

 while Naumann on the other hand asserts the contrary. 

 The young while nestlings are probably fed with insects, and 

 Mr. Gould mentions having seen the adults feeding on the 

 common cockchafer. 



Though living in pairs during the soring and summer, 

 this species becomes gregarious through autumn and winter, 

 associating in flocks with Chaffinches, Sparrows and other 



