popular JBtcttonarj) of gmmatett $aturt. 89 



presents a clouded admixture of brown and 

 olive-green tints : the belly white ; and the 

 fins streaked with bluish-black. This species 

 is said to be extremely tenacious of life; for, 

 after being drawn from the water, they will 

 leap vigorously over the sands, and inflate 

 the head when touched. In this operation 

 the branchiostegous membrane is distended, 

 and the several pieces composing the gill- 

 covers are separated by the extension of the 

 intervening membranes. Capt. Sir J. C. Ross, 

 who considers it to be the same with the 

 Coitus scorpioides of Fabricius, says that, 

 although very abundant on the Greenland 

 coast, it is more rare in the higher latitudes, 

 but several were taken on both sides of the 

 peninsula of Boothia. The natives prize it 

 highly as an article of food, preferring it to 

 cod-fish or salmon. 



BUNTING. (Eiriberiza.') The Buntings 

 form a very interesting group of Passerine 

 birds. The general characters of the family 

 are, that the bill is strong and conic, the 

 upper mandible with a strong knob on the 

 " palate," the sides of each mandible bending 



inwards; they live principally on seeds, for 

 g of which their bill is well 

 adapted. We select a few from among the 



the breaking of which 



adapted. W 



numerous species as examples. 



The COMMON BUNTING. (Emberiza 

 miliuria.) The length of this bird is about 

 seven inches and a half ; beak brown ; head 

 and upper parts light brown, inclining to 

 olive; under parts yellowish white; quills 

 dusky with lighter edges ; upper coverts 

 tipped with white ; tail slightly forked and 

 dusky ; and legs pale brown. These birds 



COMMON BUNT1NO. (^EbiBERIZA MU.JAR1A.) 



are common in England, delighting in those 

 parts that abound in corn, and rarely found 

 in uncultivated places : in winter they as- 

 semble in vast flocks ; and are often taken 

 in nets, and brought to market, where they 

 are sold for larks, but may be easily dis- 

 tinguished by the knob in the roof of the 

 mouth. The female builds her nest on a tuft 

 of dead plants, a few inches from the ground: 

 it is composed externally of grass and a few 

 long hairs. She lays five or six dirty-white 

 eggs, spotted with reddish brown and ash 

 colour. 



The BLACK-HEADED, or REED- 

 BUNTING. (Embcriza schcenidus.) B irda 

 of this species frequent fens and marshy 

 places, where there is abundance of rushes, 

 among which they nestle. The head, throat, 

 fore part of the neck, and breast, are black; 

 divided by a white line from each corner 

 of the bill, passing downwards and nearly 

 encircling the neck: upper parts of the body 

 and wings reddish brown, each feather with 

 a black streak down the middle; under parts 



REE1J EONTINO. 

 (EMBERIZA 8CHCKNICLUS.) 



white, with brownish streaks on the sides ; 

 quills dusky, edged with brown; two middle 

 tail-feathers black, the outer ones almost 

 white ; legs and feet dusky brown. The head 

 of the female is rust-coloured, spotted with 

 black: it is destitute of the white ring round 

 the neck, but in other respects it resembles 

 the male. This bird was formerly supposed 

 to suspend its nest between four reeds within 

 a few feet of the water; this, however, is not 

 the case, as it generally places it on the 

 ground at a little distance from the water, 

 and occasionally in a bush, in high grass, or 

 in furze, at a great distance from any water: 

 it is composed of stalks of grass, moss, and 

 fibres, lined with fine grass. The eggs are 

 four or five in number, of a dirty bluish white, 

 with many dark-coloured spots and veins. 



To the Bunting Family, but by naturalists 

 placed in different genera from the preceding, 

 belong the three following species : 



The SNOW BUNTING. (Plectrophanes 

 nivnlis.) This hardy bird is an inhabitant of 

 the mountains of Spitzbergen, Greenland, 

 Lapland, Hudson'sBay, and other cold north- 

 ern countries : in the Highlands of Scotland 

 (where it is known by the name of the Snow- 

 flake) it is said also to be extremely abun- 

 dant, and is supposed to be the harbinger of 

 severe weather; which drives it from its usual 

 haunts. The Snow Bunting weighs only 

 about an ounce and a half. The bill and 

 legs are black; the forehead and crown are 

 white, with some mixture of black on the 

 hind part of the head ; the back is wholly 

 black ; the rump is white; the quill-feathers 

 are black, with white bases; and the second- 

 aries are white, with black spots on their 

 interior webs. The inner feathers of the 



