152 



HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



and raise the mind to a state of the highest, 

 yet most harmless, exultation. Nothing can, 

 in this situation of mind, be more pleasing 

 than to see the lark warbling upon the wing; 

 raising its note as it soars, until it seems lost 

 in the immense heights above us; the note 

 continuing, the bird itself unseen; to see it 

 then descending with a swell as it comes from 

 the clouds, yet sinking by degrees as it ap- 

 proaches its nest, the spot where all its affec- 

 tions are centred, the spot that has prompted 

 all this joy. 



The lark builds its nest upon the ground, 

 beneath some turf that serves to hide and 

 shelter it. The female lays four or five eggs, 

 of a dusky hue in colour, somewhat like those 

 of a plover. It is while she is sitting that 

 the male thus usually entertains her with his 

 singing ; and while he is risen to an imper- 

 ceptible height, yet he still has his loved 

 partner in his eye, nor once loses sight of the 

 nest, either while he ascends or is descending. 

 This harmony continues several months, be. 



yellow-yeldring. The yellow on the crown of the head 

 is sometimes replaced by olive-green: and this, as well 

 as other occasional deviations from the ordinary gam- 

 boge yellow of this bird, would in all probability have 

 induced the erroneous multiplication of species, had the 

 yellow bunting and its incidents been less universally 

 known. This bird builds in a careless manner, on the 

 ground, or towards the bottom of a small bush. The 

 exterior of the nest consists of straw, moss, dried leaves, 

 and stalks; and within is a little wool. Notwithstand- 

 ing the carelessness of its nidification, however, few birds 

 display stronger attachment to the young and to their 

 eggs, than this ; so much so, as to be not unfrequently 

 taken by the hand, on the nest, rather than abandon its 

 offspring in time to save itself. The eggs are in 

 general about five in number, and are whitish, with red 

 streaks. 



The Foolish Bunting frequents the warmer situations 

 of Europe, and lives solitary in mountainous districts. 

 It is said to have gained deservedly its epithet, from 

 the ease with which it falls into every kind of snare. 



The Ctrl Bunting may be considered a British 

 species, as it is not uncommon in company with the 

 yellow bunting and the chaffinch on the southern coast 

 of Devonshire. A straggler has been killed in Scotland. 



The Reed Bunting is about the size of the yellow 

 bunting, and is common in this country. It constructs 

 its nest in grass or furze, near the ground, and has been 

 said to attach it to three or four reeds above the water, 

 whence its name. The eggs are four or five in num- 

 ber, bluish-white, spotted, and varied with brown. 



The Common Bunting is rather larger than the 

 yellow bunting, and is much less common here. While 

 iu France, they are merely occasional residents, and 

 arrive there in the spring, from the south, shortly after 

 .the swallows, and quit that country again in the begin- 

 ning of autumn, they are found here during the whole 

 year, and congregate in winter in large flocks, when 

 they are frequently caught in numbers, and sold under 

 the name of bunting lark, ebbs, or corn bunting. They 

 nestle on or near the ground, have four dirty-white eggs, 

 spotted and streaked with brown ; and the young have a 

 reddish tinge. During incubation, the male is gener- 

 ally found perched on a branch not far distant from his 

 mate, constantly uttering a tremulous kind of shriek, 

 several times repeated with short intervals. Their un- 



ginning early in the spring on pairing. In 

 winter, they assemble in flocks, when their 

 song forsakes them, and the bird-catchers de- 

 stroy them in great numbers for the tables of 

 the luxurious. 



The black-cap and the wren, though so 

 very diminutive, are yet prized by some for 

 their singing. The former is called by some 

 the mock nightingale ; and the latter is ad- 

 mired for the loudness of its note, compared 

 to the little body from whence it issues. It 

 must be confessed, that this disproportion be- 

 tween the voice of a bird and its size, in some 

 measure demands our wonder. Quadrupeds 

 in this respect may be considered as mutes to 

 them. The peacock is louder than the lion, 

 and the rabbit is not so loud as the wren. 

 But. it must be considered, that birds are very 

 differently formed ; their lungs in some mea- 

 sure are extended through their whole body, 

 while in quadrupeds they lie only in the 

 breast. In birds there are a variety of cells 

 which take in the air, and thus pour forth 



availing anxiety to protect their eggs and young, fre- 

 quently leads to the spot where they are deposited, which 

 the simple birds are so unwilling to forsake, and, in 

 their anxiety, so easily betray. 



The Ortolan Bunting is never known to visit this 

 country. This bird, whose flesh is very highly esteemed, 

 and which is consequently much sought after, appears 

 to be confined to the southern parts of Europe, where it 

 is found at all seasons. When these birds first arrive 

 in France, they are far from fat ; but human ingenuity 

 soon makes them fit for the table: they are fatted by 

 inclosing a number of them in a dark chamber, in which 

 is placed a lanthorn, surrounded plentifully with oats 

 and millet. The darkness seems to have the effect of 

 confining the whole attention of the birds to their favour- 

 ite food, thus placed within view ; and it is said they will 

 thus die of suffocation from their own fat, if left entirely 

 to themselves. Another mode is, by confining them in 

 cages, which admit a little light only to the box con- 

 taining the food. In this state, the ortolan bunting is 

 said to be one of the most exquisite morsels known for 

 the table. 



Among the buntings, distinguished by an elongated 

 claw to the thumb, is the Snow Bunting, as it is found 

 in the northern parts of Great Britain, and is called in 

 Scotland the snow flake. These birds appear there in 

 large flocks, at the commencement of frost, and are 

 feared by many as the harbingers of hard weather; they 

 are about the size of the chaffinch, black above, with a 

 white rump, crown, and forehead. They nestle in holes 

 in rocks, and produce five white eggs, with dusky spots. 

 They are found in all the northern latitudes, as high as 

 navigators have penetrated ; nor is it at all apparent by 

 what means they find food in these inhospitable regions. 

 The higher the degree of latitude in which they are 

 found, the whiter, as it appears, becomes their plumage ; 

 this tendency, which we have had frequent occasion to 

 notice, among the mammalia, as well as in the present 

 class, has led to the conclusion that there are many 

 varieties of this species. It breeds in Greenland, visits 

 this country in harvest, and retires in spring. As the 

 winter advances, it approaches the corn-yards, and feeds 

 with the sparrows and finches. In Zetland it is called 

 oat-fowl, from the preference which it gives to that kind 

 of grain. 



