BRITISH BIRDS. 219 



which they are met with in flocks, and continue so 

 during winter: they are often shot in great num- 

 bers, or caught in nets; and from the similarity 

 of their plumage, are not unfrequently sold for 

 Larks. The female makes her nest among the 

 thick grass, a little elevated above the ground; 

 she lays five or six eggs. Buffon observes, that in 

 France the Bunting is seldom seen during winter, 

 but that it arrives soon after the Swallow, and 

 spreads itself through almost every part of Europe. 

 Their food consists chiefly of grain ; they likewise 

 eat the various kinds of insects which they find in 

 the fields and meadows. 



