ORTOLAN BUNTING. 457 



Supplement to a previous edition, has given a figure and 

 description of the true Ortolan Bunting. This represen- 

 tation was taken from a bird caught at sea, a few miles off 

 the Yorkshire coast, by the master of a trading vessel, in 

 May 1822. This specimen, which came into the possession 

 of Mr. Fox, was lent to Mr. Bewick for his use in his work 

 on British Birds. A fine male specimen was killed near 

 Manchester in November 1827 ; and in 1837 another male 

 Ortolan was caught near London, along with Yellow Bunt- 

 ings, in a bird-catcher's net, and deposited in the aviary at 

 the Zoological Gardens, as recorded by Mr, Blyth, 



The Ortolan Bunting is only a summer visiter to the 

 middle and northern countries of Europe ; but considering 

 the high northern latitude which this bird attains every sea- 

 son, it is rather matter of surprise that more specimens have 

 not been recorded as obtained in this country. It visits and 

 produces its young in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway ; 

 and Linnaeus, in his Tour, mentions having seen it in Lap- 

 land on the 22nd of May. M. Temminck says, it is some- 

 times found in Holland. M. Viellot observes of this spe- 

 cies, in his Faune Fran^aise, that it is most numerous in 

 the southern parts of France, where it arrives about the same 

 time as the Swallows, and a little before the Quails. Mr. 

 Hoy, in a letter to me, says in reference to the habits of 

 this bird on a part of the Continent farther north than that 

 referred to by M. Vieillot, " that it makes its appearance 

 at the beginning of May, and almost immediately pairs and 

 commences building ; its monotonous chirping notes are 

 heard the whole day long ; these birds prefer light sandy 

 soils, and build invariably on the ground in fields of corn, 

 at least, I have never met with a nest in any other situa- 

 tion ; those I found were placed in a slight hollow, were 

 something similar to the nest of the Sky Lark, but rather 

 more compact ; the interior lined with fine grass and a few 



