COMMON BUNTING. 481 



bird is thus described by the author of the Journal of a Na- 

 turalist. " It could hardly be supposed that this bird, not 

 larger than a Lark, is capable of doing serious injury ; yet 

 I this morning witnessed a rick of barley, standing in a 

 detached field, entirely stripped of its thatching, which 

 this Bunting effected by seizing the end of the straw, and 

 deliberately drawing it out, to search for any grain the 

 ear might contain." 



This bird generally roosts in thick bushes, particularly 

 during the cold nights of winter ; but many of them also 

 pass the night on the ground in stubble fields, and are 

 caught with Sky Larks in the nets employed for that pur- 

 pose, and are brought with them to market for the use of 

 the table. The general resemblance of this Bunting to 

 the Sky Lark in the colour of its plumage, has given 

 origin to another provincial name by which it is known, 

 that of the Bunting Lark. 



The Common Bunting is well known around London, and 

 is also to be found in suitable localities in all the southern 

 counties of England, from Sussex to Cornwall. Mr. Eyton 

 says it is common in Shropshire and North Wales ; and 

 Mr. Thompson sends me word that it is common and in- 

 digenous to Ireland. North of London it is found in Suf- 

 folk and Norfolk, is more rare in some parts of Derbyshire, 

 and is said not to be partial to rocky or mountainous coun- 

 tries ; it occurs in Lancashire and Yorkshire ; is included 

 by Mr. Selby in his Catalogue of the Birds of Durham and 

 Northumberland, and by Dr. Heysham in his Birds of 

 Cumberland. Sir William Jardine, Bart., who has most 

 kindly furnished me with notes on the localities of birds 

 in Scotland, as noticed in the account of the Snow Bunt- 

 ing, last described, says of the Corn Bunting, as it is 

 there called, that it frequents the lower straths, or broad 



VOL. I. II 



