BUNTINGS. 411 



on two occasions in Great Britain. In Greece and Turkey, on the other hand, it is 

 a common summer bird. Lindermayer gives the following account of its habits : — 

 " This bunting arrives always in the last five days of April in Greece, and, like 

 other migrants, appears everywhere at once, so that the flats near the sea, which 

 are covered with vines and other creepers, and also places where the olive-trees are 

 scattered about, are alive with this lovely and melodious bird. It is peculiarly 

 partial to vineyards, where it builds on the vines, pomegranates,, thorns, or almond 

 trees. Its nest is always formed of dried straws, and is carefully made and lined 

 with horsehair. Five eggs are the usual complement, and these are pale sea-green, 

 covered with scattered dark brown spots, though sometimes quite unspotted. I 

 have received hundreds of nests, and often found them myself, as they are not 

 difficult to discover, the bird not being at all shy, and only leaving the nest when 

 approached within a distance of about a yard. I have often known the female to 

 lay afresh after her eggs have been removed. During the breeding-season the male 

 sits near the nest, on a branch or a tree-top, and continual^ serenades his mate 

 with his sweet song. If scared away, even by a shot, it retreats to the nearest tree 

 and continues its song." This bunting much resembles the common species in 

 general habits, often sitting on the top of a bush or low tree, and pouring forth 

 its simple notes, or flying from one elevated part to another with its legs dangling 

 down. The adult male in the breeding-time has the crown and sides of the head 

 black, the entire back and scapulars chestnut, the primaries and tail-feathers brown, 

 the whole under surface, as well as the sides of the neck, rich canary -yellow, and 

 the sides of the breast and flanks chestnut. The female is a dull-plumaged bird by 

 comparison with her brilliant mate, having the upper-parts nearly uniform brown, 

 but the under-surface yellow, with ashy margins to the breast feathers, and the 

 flanks tinged with ash colour. 



Yellow-Breasted This beautiful bunting ( E. aureola ) is distributed over the northern 



Bunting. parts of the Old World from Russia to the Pacific, and has even strayed 

 as far west as Heligoland, and been captured also in Italy. Dr. Dybowski found 

 this bunting to be one of the commonest birds in Eastern Siberia, where it 

 frequents the valleys, particularly on the plain, and where bushes abound. It 

 generally perches on the top of a plant or bush, and there sings continually, its 

 song being short and often interrupted, but sweet. The peasants look on it as the 

 best songster in Dauria ; but that is according to their taste, for there are many 

 other birds there which sing better. These birds arrive on their breeding-ground 

 about the middle of May, and commence building their nests early in June, although 

 most of them only begin breeding late in this month. Their nests are placed on 

 the ground and constructed of dry bents, lined with horsehair. The female sits 

 hard, and will permit anyone to approach quite close to her: while, when driven 

 off her eggs, she keeps flying about with the male closely in attendance, perching 

 every now and then on the neighbouring bushes, and uttering a note of lamentation 

 like that of the whinchat. The eggs of this bunting generally resemble those of 

 the reed-bunting, but the ground-colour is tinged with greenish. In the neighbour- 

 hood of Archangel the yellow -breasted bunting constantly frequents swampy 

 meadows, or marshes overgrown with birches and willows. The general colour of 

 the male is deep chestnut : the forehead, sides of the face, and upper throat being 



