444 EMBERIZID.E. 



tinction was he not so common everywhere ; but his song 

 also, though probably listened to with interest by his mate, is 

 but indifferent, consisting chiefly of one note repeated five or 

 six times in quick succession, followed by two others, the last 

 of which is drawn out to a considerable length. 



The Yellow Bunting is a late breeder generally, but some 

 exceptions to this rule have been noticed ; and the nest is 

 most frequently placed upon or very near the ground, under 

 shelter of a bush, in a hedge bottom, or on the grass-grown 

 bank of a deep ditch or brook ; and the moss, roots, and 

 hair of which it forms its nest, are usually well put together. 

 Exceptions to both these points also happen occasionally. 

 Mr. Blackwall, in some ornithological remarks printed in 

 the first volume of the Zoological Journal, says, " It is well 

 known that the Yellow Bunting generally makes a very 

 substantial nest ; yet, from some internal defect, (for there did 

 not appear to be any in its external configuration,) a female 

 of this species, in June last, deposited its eggs on the bare 

 ground, in which situation it sat upon them till they were 

 hatched. It is evident that birds of the same species possess 

 the constructive powers in very different degrees of perfec- 

 tion ; for, though the style of the architecture is usually ad- 

 hered to, the nests of some individuals are finished in a 

 manner greatly superior to those of others. In the instance 

 before us, the requisite instinctive capacity appears to have 

 been wanting altogether, as it is known to be in the Nightjar, 

 Cuckoo, Cow-pen bird, and some species of water-fowl."" 

 Mr. Salmon mentions, in the second volume of the Natu- 

 ralist, having found the nest of this bird at the extraordinary 

 elevation of seven feet from the ground, among the branches 

 of some broom, which, though naked at bottom, were thick,, 

 close, and bushy at the head. Both the materials and the 

 situation of the nest are very naturally described by Grahame 

 in his poem on the birds of Scotland, page 27 : 



