158 THE SMALLER BRITISH BIRDS. 



Naumann states that they are frequently killed for food, and that their 

 flesh is delicate and agreeable. 



The adult male is a little over six inches and a half in length. The 

 bill is yellow and blackish at the point. The irides are chesnut, and 

 the legs, toes, and claws nearly black. The top of the head and throat 

 are black; a reddish white line passes over the eyes and takes the 

 form of the letter S at the lower part. The back is brown, streaked 

 with a deeper shade; the wings brownish black, with the small coverts 

 and quills edged with reddish. The lower part of the body is greyish 

 white, spotted and streaked at the sides with brownish black. The 

 tail is blackish brown, the feathers edged with reddish, and the outer 

 marked with a wedge-shaped white spot at the end. The female is 

 without the black on the head and throat, and the rest of her plumage 

 is of a redder tint than that of the male. 



THE COMMON BUNTING, 



(Embcriza miliaria.) 

 PLATE X. FIGURE III. 



THIS species is most plentiful in the southern counties from Sussex 

 to Cornwall, and in the districts surrounding London, but it is to be 

 met with on open pastures, and grass and corn fields in all parts of 

 the country. It is common in North Wales, Ireland, and some parts 

 of Scotland Dumfriesshire, Edinburghshire, and Sutherlandshire; as 

 also in the Orkney and Shetland Isles, and the Hebrides. On the 

 continent of Europe it is found from Russia to the Mediterranean, and 

 also in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It has likewise been observed 

 in Egypt and the Canary Isles. 



During the spring and summer the Common Bunting may be fre- 

 quently seen perched on a low fence or hedge, or the branches of a 

 small tree, uttering its rather harsh and unmusical notes, which from 

 their resemblance to the noise produced by a stocking-machine, has 

 gained for the bird the name of "Stocking Weaver." The ordinary 

 call-note is represented by the syllables 'chuck' or 'chit.' 



This species has a strong and undulated but rather clumsy flight. 

 'When surprised in a field, it flies off with a direct rapid motion; but 



