YELLOW BUNTING. 491 



not so common everywhere ; but his song also, though pro- 

 bably listened to with interest by his mate, is but indif- 

 ferent, consisting chiefly of one note repeated five or six 

 times in quick succession, followed by two others, the last 

 of which is drawn out to a considerable length. 



The Yellow Bunting is a late breeder generally, but 

 some exceptions to this rule have been noticed ; and the 

 nest is most frequently placed upon or very near the 

 ground, under shelter of a bush, in a hedge bottom, or on 

 the grass-grown bank of a deep ditch or brook ; and the 

 moss, roots, and hair of which it forms its nest, are 

 usually well put together. Exceptions to both these 

 points also happen occasionally. Mr. Blackwall, in some 

 ornithological remarks printed in the first volume of the 

 Zoological Journal, says, " It is well known that the Yel- 

 low Bunting generally makes a very substantial nest ; yet, 

 from some internal defect, (for there did not appear to be 

 any in its external configuration,) a female of this species, 

 in June last, deposited its eggs on the bare ground, in 

 which situation it sat upon them till they were hatched. 

 It is evident that birds of the same species possess the 

 constructive powers in very different degrees of perfection ; 

 for, though the style of the architecture is usually adhered 

 to, the nests of some individuals are finished in a manner 

 greatly superior to those of others. In the instance be- 

 fore us, the requisite instinctive capacity appears to have 

 been -wanting altogether, as it is known to be in the 

 Nightjar, Cuckoo, Cow-pen bird, and some species of water- 

 fowl. 1 ' Mr. Salmon mentions, in the second volume of 

 the Naturalist, having found the nest of this bird at the 

 extraordinary elevation of seven feet from the ground, 

 among the branches of some broom, which, though naked 

 at bottom, were thick, close, and bushy at the head. 



