THE BUNTING. 



481 



The general colour of this bird is bright yellow, variegated with patches of dark brown, 

 and having a richly mottled brownish yellow on the back, with a decided warm ruddy 

 tinge. The primary feathers of the wing are black, edged with }ellow, and the remainder of 

 the feathers throughout, with all the wing-coverts, are deep brown-black, edged with ruddy 

 brown. The chin, throat, and all the under parts of the body are bright pure yellow, 

 sobering into rusty brown on the flanks. The female is similarly marked, but is not so 

 brilliant in her hues. The total length of the bird is about seven inches. 



The Oetolan or Gaeden Bunting is 

 widely celebrated for the delicacy of its flesh, 

 or rather for that of its fat ; the fat of the 

 Ortolan being somewhat analogous to the 

 green fat of the turtle in the opinion of 

 gourmands. 



The Ortolan has occasionally been shot 

 in England, but it is most frequently found 

 on the continent, where its advent is expected 

 with great anxiety, and vast numbers are an- 

 nually captured for the table. These birds 

 are not killed at once, as they would not be 

 in proper condition, but they are placed in 

 a dark room, so as to prevent them from 

 moving about, and are fed largely with oats 

 and millet, until they become mere lumps of 

 fat, weighing nearly three ounces, and are 

 then killed and sent to table. The net and 

 decoy-bird are the means that are generally 

 employed for their capture. 



The nest of the Ortolan is placed on the 

 ground, generally among corn, and upon a 

 sandy soil, where some slight defence helps 

 to conceal the nest, and to afford a partial 

 shelter from the wind. The materials of 

 which it is made are grasses of different 

 degrees of fineness, and a few hairs which 

 are placed in the interior. The number of 

 eggs is five or six, and their colour is pale 

 bluish white, covered with spots of black. 

 The nest is generally begun in the early 

 part of May. The Ortolan has no real song, 

 its voice being limited to a few monotonous 

 chirping notes. 



The colouring of this bird is as follows : 

 The head is grey with a green tinge, and the 

 back is ruddy brown beautifully mottled with 

 black. The wings are black, with brown 

 edges to the feathers ; the chin, throat, and 



upper portions of the breast are greenish-yellow ; and the abdomen is warm buff, 

 total leuffth of the Ortolan is rather more than six inches. 



ORTOLAN. — Emieriza hortuldna. 



The 



As the Common Bunting is not so brilliant a bird as the Yellow Bunting, it is less 

 noticed, though quite as plentiful. 



It is a thick-set and heavily made bird, not being possessed of the elegant shape which 



is found in its yellow relative. During the spring and summer, the Bunting is generally 



found in the corn-fields, from which habit it is sometimes termed the Corn Bunting, and 



is but seldom seen among trees or on open pasture-lands. Its food chiefly consists of 



2. II 



