458 EMBERIZIDE. 



hairs ; the eggs are from four to six in number," bhiish 

 white, speckled and spotted with black. " These birds re- 

 tire southward early, few being seen after the end of Au- 

 gust. They are at that time taken in great numbers in nets 

 with decoy birds, and fattened for the table.'"" Mr. Gould 

 says that when thus caught they are kept in a dark room, 

 and there fed with plenty of oats and millet seed, upon which 

 they quickly fatten ; and Mr. David Booth, in his Analy- 

 tical Dictionary of the English Language, which abounds 

 with interesting references to Natural History, says, " these 

 birds are fed up till they become lumps of fat of three ounces 

 in weight, some of which are potted, or otherwise preserved, 

 and exported to other countries." 



The natural food of the Ortolan Bunting is grain and 

 seeds when ripened, with insects during the early part of 

 the season. 



It is a common bird in the southern countries of Europe 

 from May to August, is seen at Gibraltar every spring and 

 autumn, and winters in North Africa. It was observed at 

 Smyrna by Mr. H. E. Strickland in April, and is included 

 by Colonel Sykes in his Catalogue of the Birds of the 

 Dukhun. 



The adult male in summer has the beak reddish brown, 

 the palatine knob small ; the irides brown ; head and cheeks 

 greenish grey ; the feathers on the back rich reddish brown, 

 but almost black in the centre ; primaries dusky black, nar- 

 rowly edged with rufous brown ; tertials and wing-coverts 

 dusky black with broad rufous brown margins ; upper tail- 

 coverts reddish brown ; tail-feathers dusky black, the two 

 outer feathers on each side with a patch of white on the 

 broad inner web ; the chin, throat, and upper part of the 

 breast, yellowish green ; the other under parts of the body 

 reddish buff, palest in colour on the belly and under tail- 

 coverts ; legs, toes, and claws, pale brown, tinged with red. 



