niKDS. 



2. '.9 



The laiU builds its nest upon the ground, beneath some tiuf 

 that serves to hide and shelter it. The female lays four or five 

 eggs, of a dusky hue in colour, somewhat like those of a plover. 

 It is while she is sitting that the male thus usually entertains 



various moans employod by Nature to attain one and the same end. How 

 difl'creiit, for instance, arc the means hy wliich the several clivsses of animals 

 attain the common oh.iect of locomotion, and how various are the modifica- 

 tions of thosi' means in the respective genera. Tlie buntinf«i, however, do 

 not feed exclusively on ve^etalile matter; like most of their order, they 

 subsist aNo partially on insects and worms. 



Tlie Yt'l/uw Ihiuting {K. Citrinella). This common species, in our own 

 country, is known to every one under the name of the yellow-hammer. 

 'J'he yellow on the crown of the head is sometimes replaced hy olive-green : 

 an<\ this, as well as other occasional deviations from the ordinary gamboge 

 yellow of this bird, would in all probability have induced the erroneous 

 multiplication of species, had the yellow bunting and its incidents been 

 less universally known. This bird builds in a careless manner, on the 

 ground, or towards the bottom of a small bush. The exterior of the nest 

 consists of straw, moss, dried leaves, and stalks ; and within is a little 

 wool. Notwithstanding the ca-wlessness of its nidification, however, few 

 birds display stronger attachment to the young and to their eggs, than 

 this; so much so, as to be not nnfrequently taken by the hand, on the 

 nest, rather than abandon its offspring in time to save itself. The eggs are 

 in general about five in number, and are whitish, with red streaks. 



The Foolish Bunting- frequents the warmer situations of Europe, and 

 lives solitary in mountainous districts. It is said to liave gained de- 

 servedly, its epithet, from the ease with which it falls into every kind of 

 snare. 



The Cirl Bunting may be considered a British species, as it is not tin- 

 common in company with the yellow bunting and the chaffinch on the 

 southern coast of Devonsliire. A stuiiggler has, indeed, been killed in Scot- 

 land. 



The Bt>ed Bunting {E. Schreniculus) is about the size of the yellow bunt- 

 ing, and is common in this country. It constructs its nest in grass or furze, 

 near the ground, and has been said to attach it to three or four reeds above 

 the water, wlience its name. The eggs are four or tive iu number, bluish 

 white, spotted, and varied with brown. " I have now and then," says 

 Dr Latham, "seen this bird in the hedges, or the high road ; but the chief 

 resort is near the water ; and that it, among other things, feeds on the seeds 

 of the reed, is clear, as I have foiuid them in the stomach." Though not 

 imcoramon, they are uot found in large flocks. Though this species is said 

 to he the best songster of the genus, its musical pretensions seem by no 

 means to be boasted of. It is perennial in this country, though said to mi- 

 grate in other parts of Europe. 



The Common Bunting {E. Miliaria). This species is rather larger than 

 the yellow bunting, and is much less common here. While in France, they 

 are merely occasional residents, and arrive there in the spring, from tlia 

 south, shortly after the swallows, and quit tliat country again in the begin. 

 nijBg of autumn, they are found here during the whole year, and congre- 



