THE PAINTED BUNTING. 231 



Obs&nations. These birds are natives of Carolina, but are 

 also common in New York, where they visit the orchards, 

 when in bloom, at the beginning of April. They chiefly fre- 

 quent hilly districts. Their song, which is not unpleasant, 

 resembles that of the Linnet. They may be kept in a bell- 

 shaped cage, and fed on millet, canary, poppy, and crushed 

 hemp seed. 



102. THE PAINTED BUNTING. 



Emberiza Ciris, LIN. Verdier de la Louisiana, BUF. Der Gemalte 

 Ammer, BECH. 



Description. This bird is about the size of a Linnet, being 

 five inches and one-third in length. The beak is greyish 

 brown ; the iris nut brown ; the feet brown ; the head and 

 neck violet ; the circle of the eyes red. The upper part of the 

 back, and the scapulars, are yellowish green ; the under part of 

 the same, the rump, and all the lower portion of the body, 

 red. The smaller wing coverts are violet brown, with a tinge 

 of red ; the larger are pale green. The pen feathers are 

 brown, some edged with grey, others with red. The tail is 

 brown ; the two centre .feathers being of a reddish hue, and 

 having the outer plume of the others of the same colour. 



The female is pale green on the upper part of the body ; on 

 the lower, yellowish green ; the pen feathers, as well as the 

 tail, brown, edged with green. 



As this bird does not obtain its full plumage till the third 

 year, it must naturally pass through several changes of hue. 

 At first, male and female are uniform in colour. In the 

 second year, the head of the male becomes blue ; the rest of 

 the plumage is blueish green, with the exception of the wings 

 and tail, which are brown, bordered with blueish green. About 

 the same time, the feathers of the female acquire a strong tinge 

 of blue. Besides all this, they moult twice a year, so that it 

 is no wonder that two birds are rarely seen exactly similar to 

 one another. Individual birds are also found, in which all the 

 lower part of the body, except a red spot on the breast, is yel- 

 lowish ; a colour which, in the moulting season, changes to 

 srhite. 



Observations. The Painted Bunting is a native of all the 

 warmer parts of Canada, and as far south as Mexico, Brazil, 

 oud Guiana, though in Carolina none are found less than 130 



