306 COMMON BUNTING. 



angle at the gape ; wings, with the second 

 and third quills longest, first and fourth 

 equal, feet moderate, outer and inner toes 

 equal, hind claw lengthened ; tail slightly 

 forked. E. milaria and citrinella. 



THE COMMON BUNTING, EMBERIZA MILIAIUA, 

 Linn. S)C. Emberiza miliaria, Linn. fyc. 

 Miliaria Europea, Swains.' -Bunting, Common 

 vr Corn Bunting, of British authors. This Bun- 

 ting, though generally called the " Common," is 

 perhaps not so abundant as some of the others, 

 and is certainly in some districts of local dis- 

 tribution. In England, it is said to frequent 

 the cultivated parts ; and in Scotland, we have 

 chiefly observed it in the valleys where an extent 

 of holm land lay on each side of the stream which 

 generally runs through them. In wooded or very 

 hilly districts it is scarcely known. During the 

 season of incubation they may be seen sitting on 

 the top of a hedge, bush, or stone wall, repeating at 

 short intervals their shrill and little varied note, and 

 they occasionally shift their station to some other 

 elevated twig by a slow fluttering flight, expanding 

 the tail at the same time, and uttering their notes 

 as they fly. The nest is built on the ground in 

 a hay or grain field, or among any lengthened 

 herbage in an open situation, and sometimes it is 

 slightly raised from among coarser plants or 

 bushes. The fabric is rather large, and is care- 

 lessly composed, exteriorly of roots and dried 



