CLASS II. AVES: ORDER 2. PASSERES. 



171 



land it unites in winter with flocks of chaffinches and green-finches, and feeds on grain-seeds and 

 insects. It is a pleasing singer, tliougli its notes are few and repeated five or six times in quick 

 succession. In Italy great quantities arc caught, with the ortolan bunting, for the table. 



The Black-iieaded Bunting or Reed-Bunt- 

 ing, E. schoyniculus is six inches lonir ; above black • 

 beneath white, streaked and clouded with brown ; 

 common throughout Europe ; a summer visitor to 

 the north. 



The CiRL Bunting, U. cirlus—iha Bruant Zizi 

 of the French — is five and a half inches long, Avith 

 chestnut, black and yellow above, dull yellow be- 

 neath ; common in the south of Europe ; migrates 

 to the north in sununer. 



Other foreign species of Bunting are as follows : 

 the Mountain-Bunting, JE. ni07ita.na, six inches 

 long ; ash-colored, spotted with black, above ; the 

 breast rusty-i'cd ; is a rather rare species ; inhabits 

 northern Europe ; migrates southwardly in mid- 

 winter. The Common or Cokn-Bunting of Europe, 

 £J. miliaria, is seven and a half inches long ; red- 

 dish-gray above ; yellowish-white below ; inhabits 

 Europe and Northern Asia; is sedentary in Ger- 

 many, The Foolish Bunting — Bruant Fou of 

 the French — E. cia, is six inches long ; brownish- 

 red, spotted with black, above ; rust-color below ; 

 it is fond of solitude, and easily caught in traps, 

 whence its name; inhabits Southern Europe. The 

 Sparrow-Bunting, E. jxtsserina of Bechstein, is 

 five inches long ; red, olive, and black above ; greenish-white, spotted with brown, beneath ; a 

 bird of passage, inhabiting the mountains of Europe in summer. 



Among the American buntings, some of which pass among ns in popular language for spar- 

 rows, there are none of particular celebrity. They arc all migratory, and feed on seeds, sometimes 

 on insects; they live in pairs, often moving in small flocks. 



The Black-throated Bunting, E. Americana, is six and a half inches long; back grayish- 

 brown, with longitudinal streaks; beneath yellow and white. In its flight and notes it closely 

 resembles the corn-bunting of Europe ; the nest is neatly made of grass, usually beneath a tuft 

 of herbage, and partly imbedded in the soil ; the eggs are five or six, dull white, blotched with 

 umber. It is migratory, breeding in summer throughout the United States, but most abundantly 

 at the South. 



Townsend's Bunting, E. Toivnsendii, is five and a half inches long; bluish-gray, marked with 

 black, above ; below grayish-white ; migratory ; found in Pennsylvania and the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. The Lark-Bunting, E. grammaca, is six and a half inches long ; light grayish-brown 

 above ; below yellowish-white ; migratory ; found on the upper Missouri and eastern declivities 

 of the Rocky Mountains. The Savannah Bunting — Fringilla savanna of Wilson — E. savanna, 

 is a very abundant speeios, resembling the sparrows, and in winter associating with the field-spar- 

 row and bay-winged sparrow. It confines itself principally to the ground, where it runs with 

 great agility, lowering its body as if to evade your view, and when in danger, hiding as closely 

 as a mouse; it seldom takes wing unless much alarmed or suddenly surprised. In winter, how- 

 ever, it comes familiarly and fearlessly about the house and garden, sitting on fences and low 

 buildings. It is five and a half inches long; reddish-brown, spotted, above; lower parts white. 

 Its nest is made on the ground, at the foot of a bush or tuft of grass ; the eggs are four to 

 six; there are usually two broods in a season. This bird has a few notes, frequently uttered, 



THE GIRL BUNTING. 



but 



no sono;; it is common throuo-hout the United States; verv abundant in the South in 



