PASSERINE BIRDS. 1 87 



looks eminently ungraceful, as it bends itself nearly double, napping with its tail as it hops slowly 

 from place to place. When in the air it flies with difficulty, the short, whirring strokes of its wings 

 producing an undulating kind of motion. The song of this Bunting has nothing to recommend it, 

 being in sound not unlike the noise produced by a stocking machine, from which fact this species is in 

 many places known as the " Stocking Weaver." Still, however unpleasing to our ears this performance 

 may be, the birds themselves are highly delighted with their own music, accompanying their notes by 

 a variety of gesticulations, and thus appearing to give utterance to sentiments that their very limited 

 gamut does not permit them otherwise to express. 



The breeding season commences in April. The nest is generally placed in the grass or amongst a 

 group of plants, and is built of straw and dry leaves, lined with hair and other elastic materials. The 

 eggs, from four to six in number, have a delicate pale grey or dirty yellowish shell, marked with dull 

 purple spots, veins, and lines that are very close together at the broad end. The young are fed upon 

 insects, and are fully fledged by May, when the parent birds at once proceed to undertake the care of 

 a second family, only joining the rest of the flock when the work of incubation is completed. The 

 flesh of the Grey Bunting is considered excellent ; it is therefore much sought after by man, whose 

 example is followed by falcons, rats, foxes, and other animals. 



THE GOLDEN BUNTING 



The Golden Bunting, or Yellow Bunting (Emberiza citrinclla), is to be met with in the 

 same parts of our continent as afford a home to the species last described, from which it is 

 distinguished by the beauty of its plumage, and the comparative slendemess of its beak. The 

 Yellow Bunting is about six and a half inches long, and from ten to ten and a half inches in 

 breadth ; the wing measures three and a quarter inches, and the tail two and three-quarter inches ; 

 the plumage of the male is admired for its markings and the brightness of its tints; the head and lower 

 portion of the neck are of a bright lemon yellow, and the breast and belly streaked with reddish 

 brown ; the sides of the breast, rump, and mantle are of a vivid rust colour, the latter being streaked 

 with dark brown ; the throat is tinted with a mixture of olive green and reddish yellow, and the 

 wings and tail are bordered by two lines, formed by the yellowish tips of the feathers ; the iris is 

 brown, the beak blueish, and the feet of a deep flesh colour. The female is by no means so handsome 

 as her mate. 



Unlike the Grey Bunting, this species is frequently found at a considerable altitude, and is very 

 numerous upon the Swiss Alps : it generally, however, prefers woodland districts, where it hops about 

 with an agility and grace far exceeding that of its grey brother, whom it also much surpasses in the quality 

 of its voice. During the entire summer Golden Buntings are seen flying over the country either in pairs 

 or small parties ; but no sooner does spring approach than the little couples creep under some low 

 bush or bushy plant, and commence their preparations for a young family, generally building their 

 nest with fine grass or some similar material, and enlivening their work by a constant flow of song, that 

 has been freely translated into a number of sentences appropriate to the business upon which they are 

 employed ; these jubilant sounds are uttered whilst perched upon a high branch, from which the 

 bold songster will look down upon the approach of a man without exhibiting any alarm. The 

 brood consists of from four to five eggs of a dirty white or reddish colour, veined and spotted with 

 a darker shade. Both parents assist in the work of incubation, and feed the young exclusively upon 

 insect nourishment ; should the season be favourable, these birds will breed twice or thrice in the 

 year. When the rearing of the several families is completed, young and old congregate into one large 

 flock, and fly about the country in company with Larks, Finches, and Thrushes, for whose society they 

 appear to feel a wonderful predilection, which is, however, not so peaceful in its nature as to prevent 



