YELLOW BUNTING. 445 



" Up from that ford a little bank there was. 

 With alder-copse and willow overgrown. 

 Now worn away by mining winter floods; 

 Tiiere, at a bramble root, sunk in the grass. 

 The iiidden prize of withered field-straws formed, 

 Well lined with many a roil of hair and moss, 

 And in it laid five red-veined spheres, I found." 



The eggs are of a pale purplish white colour, streaked, or 

 veined and speckled, with dark reddish brown : the length 

 ten lines and a half, by eight lines in breadth. The male, 

 whose song is heard in spring and summer, but particularly 

 during warm sunny days in June, is remarkable for his atten- 

 tions to his female, taking his turn upon the eggs during the 

 period of incubation ; and Mr. N. Wood mentions having 

 heard him sing while thus engaged upon the nest. The 

 young are seldom able to fly before the second week in June, 

 but they are generally ready to leave the nest within a fort- 

 night after the time of being hatched ; and if often visited 

 before they are able to fly, their fears induce them to quit 

 their discovered retreat a few days sooner. In winter they 

 are gregarious, flocking with Chaflinches, Greenfi:nches, and 

 others, to visit the farmers^ stack-yard, feeding on grain, 

 seeds, and insects. Sometimes the Yellow Buntings, like the 

 Common Buntings, pass the night on the ground ; but in very 

 cold weather they resort at roosting time to the shelter and 

 temperature afforded by thick bushes and evergreen shrubs. 

 In Italy great quantities of this species are caught, with the 

 Ortolan Bunting, and fattened for the purposes of the table ; 

 as we in this country consume Wheatears in summer and 

 Larks in winter. 



Of the localities inhabited by the Yellow Bunting in Bri- 

 tain, it may be sufficient to say that it is common and indi- 

 genous to England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. It is not 

 included in the Fauna Orcadensis of the Rev. Mr. Low, but 

 Mr. Dunn, who has lately visited both Orkney and Shetland 



