THE ORTOLAN BUNTING. 



189 



with * a drop of the devil's blood ' on the morning of May- 

 day ; and that infernal draught taints the eggs with those 

 streaks and ' gouts ' which, in truth, make them so beauti- 

 ful. What first gave rise to superstitions so absurd, and 

 so contrary to all that we are taught to know of the nature 

 of spiritual beings, it is not easy to say ; but, to the credit 

 of the times, they are fast wearing out." 



More numerous in France and Germany than in England 

 is the Ortolan Bunting. In France they are caught in 

 great numbers, and fattened ^^^. _^ 



for the table. For this pur- 

 pose they are placed in a 

 warm and perfectly dark 

 chamber, with only one aper- 

 ture in the wall. Their food 

 is scattered over the floor of 

 the chamber. In the morn- 

 ing the keeper places a lan- 

 tern in the orifice of the wall ; 

 by the light thus thrown in, 

 the ortolans, " thinking the 

 sun is about to rise," greedily consume the food about the 

 floor. More food is scattered, and the light withdrawn. 

 The ortolans soon fall asleep. In about two hours the 

 whole process is repeated ; and so on, four or five times 

 every day. Thus treated, the ortolans soon develop into 

 little balls of fat; a result due to the absence of waste by 

 motion, the extra sleep which the birds obtain, the absence 

 of the usual chemical changes from the influence of light, 

 an unusual abundance of food, and great facilities for 



ORTOLAN. 



