THE SPARROW BUNTING. 123 



observed several times, not of one only, but of many of these birds, 

 testifying its joy by extending its wings and tail like a fan, and sliaking 

 them so tliat, by this exercise the feathers have been much injured. 

 The female sings also, but its tones are weaker than those of the male. 



THE SPARROW BUNTING. 



Emberiza passerina, Linnjeus ; L'Ortolan Passerin ; Der Sperlingsammer, 

 Bechstein. 



This species must have been confounded with the preceding, 

 or it would have been better knoA\Ti, as it is not rare either in 

 autumn or spring. It is smaller and more slender than the 

 former, being only five inches long, of which the tail measures 

 two and a quarter ; the beak is black above and light brown 

 below ; the iris is of a dark chestnut ; the feet are nine lines in 

 height and of a dusky flesh-colour ; but the plumage in general 

 is similar to that of the female of the preceding species. 



The male has the top of the head red, with a grey longitu- 

 dinal streak in the middle, and many black spots arising from 

 the deeper shade of the feathers which appears in every di- 

 rection ; a dusky reddish white line passes from the nostrils 

 above, and also a little under the eyes, and widening behind on 

 the temples, a chestnut brown colour breaks through a deep 

 black, which reaches the sides of the neck and becomes a spot 

 there. 



The colours of the female are in general lighter, and the 

 black does not appear on the top of the head ; a reddish white 

 streak passes above the eyes, another descends from the base of 

 the beak do^^^l the sides of the neck, a third, but of a dusky 

 black, extends from each side of the chin to beyond the middle 

 of the neck. 



When kept in the house the black disappears from the head 

 of the male, and the upper part of the neck becomes greyish 

 white, spotted longitudinally with dusky black. 



Obskrvations. — Thick woods and bushes in a mountainous country are 

 the favourite haunts of the sparrow bunting. It is a bird of passage, which 

 quits us in October oi November and returns in April. It is not rare in 

 Thuringia, particularly at the time of passage; formerly it was only known 

 in Russia. Its food, when wild, is insects and all kinds of grain. 



In the house, it is fed on the same food as the reed bunting, which it 

 very much resembles in its sona. and habits : it is taken in the same 

 manner. 



