THE COMMON BUNTING 



EMBERIZA MILIARIA 



LOCAL names in surrounding counties : " Bunting Lark " 

 (Essex). 



STATUS IN BRITISH AVIFAUNA : A widely but somewhat 

 locally distributed resident, rarer in the north. 



RADIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 

 PAUL'S : The Common Bunting by no means deserves its 

 name anywhere within the Metropolitan area. It must 

 be classed as one of our most local London birds, and one 

 that in a good many districts has become rarer of late 

 years, doubtless owing to the fact that so much open 

 ground has been built on, enclosed, or devoted to public 

 uses. I can record this species from the Wembley and 

 Horsenden districts, from Wimbledon and Richmond, 

 from Croydon, Epsom, the Grays, and Epping, in all of 

 which it possibly nests sparingly. It has been recorded as 

 a nesting species from Mitcham and Surbiton. To the 

 inner portions of our area the Common Bunting must be a 

 very irregular visitor. I have no records from the urban 

 parks, but these localities, of course, present few if any 

 attractions to such an open-country bird. This Bunting 

 becomes much commoner beyond our western limits in 

 Bucks and Berks, from which counties flocks are recorded, 

 especially in autumn. 



We have here another species upon whose habits we 

 need not dwell at any great length. The Common or 

 Corn Bunting cannot easily be overlooked if it is present 

 in any locality, because the song of the male is very charac- 

 teristic and persistent, and the birds are fond of ex- 

 hibiting themselves on the tops of tall weeds, bushes, and 

 on telegraph wires. The song is a poor one. One or two 

 long-drawn notes seem to be full of promise, but these 

 invariably end in a hurried splutter, and all is over. This 



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