362 



PASSEKE>. BIRDS. FRIXG!LLID,E. 



yellow. The length of this bird is about six inches 

 and a half. 



THE BLACK-THEOATED BUNTING (Euspiza ameri- 

 cana), a migratory species in the United States, has 

 a considerable resemblance to the European yellow 

 hammer, both in form and habits. It is six inches 

 and a half in length, and has the head greenish-yellow, 

 the back, rump, and tail rusty-red, partly streaked 

 with black, and the lower surface dull-white, with a 

 large, somewhat cordate, black patch on the throat. 

 This bird frequents grass and clover fields, always 

 building its nest on the ground, which is composed of 

 dried grasses. 



THE RICE-BUNTING (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) is also 

 a summer visitor to North America, where it is very 

 abundant. During the breeding season these birds 

 are dispersed all over the country, feeding to a great 

 extent upon insects and the seeds of various wild 

 plants, but also occasionally attacking the young ears 

 of wheat, barley, and Indian corn. When the young 

 are able to fly, however, they descend in vast flocks 

 upon the corn-fields, apparently giving the preference 

 to oats, of which they consume great quantities, but in 

 return, according to Wilson, often supply the farmer's 

 table with a very delicious dish. 



The Rice-bunting is seven inches and a half in 

 length, and the male is of a black colour, with the back 

 of the head cream-colour, and the lower part of the 

 back, the rump, and scapulars white. The female is 

 brownish-yellow, streaked with brownish-black on the 

 back ; and the male assumes a similar dress when the 

 breeding season is over. The nest is built on the 

 ground, of dry leaves and grass, and the female usually 

 lays five eggs. While she is sitting, the male is very 

 gay and active, and emits a singular biit not disagree- 



THE SNOW-BUNTING (Plectropkanes nivalis). The 

 two species of Buntings to which we have now to refer 

 namely, the Snow-bunting and the Lapland Bunting 

 resemble the larks in the great length of the hinder 

 claw, but have stout conical bills, like the preceding 

 species. The Snow-bunting is a winter visitor to 

 Britain, its summer place of abode being the extreme 

 northern parts of both hemispheres, where it breeds 

 and rears its young. It measures about seven inches 

 in length, and has the top of the head reddish-brown ; 

 the back variegated with black and brown; the primary 

 and secondary quill-feathers black, with narrow white 

 edges ; the wing-coverts and tertials white, the middle 

 tail-feathers black edged with white, the three outer 

 ones on each side white, bordered at the apex with 

 black; and the lower surface white with a reddish- 

 brown tinge on the breast and flanks. In summer the 

 head becomes white, the back black, and the breast 

 loses its reddish tint. This is the state properly called 

 the Snow-bunting or Snow-flake ; in other conditions 

 of plumage, the birds are known as Tawny Buntings 

 and Mountain Buntings. 



In this country the young birds are the first to make 

 their appearance, accompanied by females ; the adult 

 males come rather later. The birds are more abundant 

 in the northern and mountainous parts of the country 

 than in the south ; they frequent elevated pastures 



throughout the winter, but descend in very severe 

 weather to the oat-stubbles ; or, if the snow lies deep, 

 even to the sea-coast. They run readily upon the 

 ground like the larks, and seldom perch. They breed 

 among the rocks of the most northern islands, making 

 a nest of dry grass lined with deer's hair and feathers ; 

 the young are fed upon insects and grubs. The food 

 of the parent birds consists principally of seeds of 

 various kinds and buds. 



THE LAPLAND BUNTING (Plectrophanes lapponica) 

 is a smaller bird than the preceding, measuring only 

 six inches and a quarter in length. The male has the 

 head, face, throat, and breast deep black ; the nape of 

 the neck bright chestnut; the feathers of the back, 

 wings, and tail dark brown, with reddish-brown edges ; 

 and the lower surface white, extending up the sides of 

 the neck to the back of the head, whence a narrow 

 white streak is continued over each eye. The white 

 sides of the breast and" abdomen are spotted with black. 

 The female has the black plumage of the head and 

 breast edged with pale brown and gray, and the chest- 

 nut feathers of the neck with white. 



This bird agrees with the Snow-bunting in its wide 

 distribution over the arctic regions, but is a far rarer 

 visitor to this country, only a few specimens having 

 been taken at various times in the lark nets. It breeds 

 amongst moss and stones in the moist meadows bor- 

 dering the arctic shores, composing its nest of dry grass 

 and lining it with deer's hair. 



THE SKYLAEK (Alauda arvensis) Plate 13, fig. 

 46. This well-known and favourite British bird is an 

 inhabitant not only of all parts of Europe, but also of 

 Northern Asia, descending as far to the southward as 

 the borders of India. It dwells commonly in cultivated 

 districts, where it roosts and builds its nest on the 

 ground, usually in corn-fields. Few, if any, of our 

 British birds possess a more cheerful and animated 

 song than the Skylark, whose joyous notes, heard as 

 the bird soars perpendicularly in the air, have frequently 

 afforded a theme for the poet; indeed the power of 

 his song is most extraordinary, as it may be distin- 

 guished long after the little body from which it issues 

 is lost to sight, and when we may, with little help from 

 imagination, believe him, as Shakspeare has it, to be 

 singing at " heaven's gate." In a wild state the lark 

 seldom sings but when on the wing, and even in con- 

 finement he flutters his w r ings and presses against the 

 wires of his cage, as if he would fain be soaring in the 

 air. His song lasts for about eight months in the 

 year ; and during the summer he will sing the whole 

 day through, from the very first appearance of dawn 

 until after sunset ; he also appears to be a long-lived 

 bird, for Mr. Yarrell mentions an instance of one that 

 lived nineteen years and a half in a cage. 



The Skylark feeds upon seeds of various kinds, 

 insects, and worms. Its nest is built upon the ground, 

 under a clod of earth or tuft of herbage, in a corn-field 

 or meadow. The materials of the nest are grasses of 

 various thickness, and other vegetable fibres. The 

 eggs are four or five in number, of a grayish-white 

 colour with a greenish tint, mottled with dark-gray 

 and brown ; the bird generally rears two broods in a 

 During winter the Skylarks assemble in 



