BLACK-HEADED BUNTING. 135 



Dalmatia, where it has the name of Ortolan, though a very different 

 bird from that which bears this name in France. It is common 

 throughout the Levant, and is sufficiently so, according to Temminck, 

 in Istria, in the neighbourhood of Trieste, in the bushes and slopes 

 of the hills which border the Adriatic. It has been occasionally, 

 but accidentally found in Lombardy, Provence, Saxony, and in Ger- 

 many, in the neighbourhood of Vienna, and has occurred in the west 

 of Spain, the south of Austria, and in the neighbourhood of Marseilles 

 (Jaubert.) It has been recorded as a visitor to Heligoland in a 

 single instance by Herr Gatke, ("Ibis," 1862;) and in the "Ibis" for 

 1868, Mr. Gould records a reported capture of this species at 

 Brighton, in November of that year. It was a female, with eggs in 

 the ovarium. Certainly the most singular captures are said to occur 

 at Brighton! Mr. Wright writes to Mr. Dresser of its occurrence in 

 Malta. 



Lord Lilford ("Ibis," 1860, p. 139,) says of this bird:— "Arrives 

 in Corfu and Epirus in great numbers in April, and remains to 

 breed, disappearing in September; has an agreeable song." Mr. W. 

 H. Simpson ("Ibis," I860,) writes that the gardens and vineyards of 

 Mesolonghi and Southern iEtolia, are full of this bird. 



Lieut. Sperling, "Ornithology of the Mediterranean" ("Ibis," 1864, 

 p. 281,) writes, "I observed lots of Black-headed Buntings in the high 

 reeds at Butrinto ; but they were very artful in dodging out of sight." 

 Messrs. Elwes and Buckley ("Birds of Turkey," "Ibis," 1870, p. 192,) 

 remark, "Mr. Robson informs us that this species is common, and 

 arrives in flocks at the end of April, frequenting the lower grounds, 

 and breeding in gardens." The Rev. Canon Tristram, in his paper 

 on the Birds of Palestine, (P. Z. S., 1864, p. 446,) writes, — "Returns 

 from the south in the beginning of April, and is then very numerous, 

 both on the wooded hills and among olive groves, where it pours 

 forth its varied note from the tops of the highest branches. The 

 nest is placed in a bush not far from the ground; and its eggs mark 

 at once the separation of this genus from Emheriza." Mr. Tristram 

 has adopted Bonaparte's generic name of Euspiza for this species, 

 and certainly the character of the egg warrants him in doing so if 

 he likes. I am however content to wait till the unmistakable Bun- 

 ting character of the bird itself has become more evolved in the 

 spizina? direction. It is singular that naturalists should have such an 

 inclination to change the names which are much more closely con- 

 nected with the groups in which they are classed than with those 

 towards which they are supposed to diverge. 



I copy the following from Mr. Dresser's "Birds of Europe," which 



