148 BRITISH BIRDS. 



EMBERIZA MILIARIA. 

 CORN-BUNTING. 



(Plate 13.) 



Emteriza cyncliranius, Briss. Orn. iii. p. 292 (1760). 



Emberiza miliaria, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 308 (1766) ; et auctorum pluximorum— 



Gnielin, Latham, Temmineh, Naumann, {Heuglin), Gould, Newtmi, Dresser, &c. 

 Fringilla projer, Miill. Natursyst. Siippl. p. 164 (1776). 

 Miliaria septentrionalis, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl. p. 291 (1831). 

 Miliaria europjea, Sioains. Classif. B. ii. p. 290 (1837). 

 Cynehramus miliaria {Linn.), Bonap. Comp. List B. Eur. and N. Amer. p. 35 



(1838). 

 Spinus miliarius (Linn.), Gray, List Gen. B. p. 61 (1841). 

 Cryptophaga miliaria (Linn.), Cab. Mus. Hein. i. p. 127 (1850). 

 Oitrinella miliaria (Linn.), Gray, Hand-l. B. ii.p. 114 (1870). 



The Corn-Bunting, often inappropriately called the Common Bunting, 

 is by no means the commonest or best known of the British species of this 

 genus. It is common enough in some localities, rare in others, and its 

 distribution is certainly local. Owing to its preference for well-cultivated 

 districts, it is a comparatively common bird in the south of England, 

 including Guernsey ; and in the north it is by no means rare, although 

 local. In Scotland, according to Mr. Gray, it is less local in the western 

 districts than in the eastern, and extends in the latter from the south of 

 Wigtownshire to the north of the Outer Hebrides, and even to St. Kilda. 

 In the east it is by no means so common in summer ; but very large flocks 

 are sometimes met with in winter. It also breeds in the Orkneys and the 

 Shetlands, in the latter islands being much commoner in winter than in 

 summer. It is found throughout Ireland in suitable districts, where it is 

 also a common resident, becoming to a certain extent gregarious in 

 winter. 



The Corn-Bunting has a somewhat restricted range, and inhabits the 

 south-western portion of the Palsearctic Region, where it is for the most part 

 a resident. Beyond the British Islands its range extends throughout Central 

 and Southern Europe. It is only found in the extreme south of Norway 

 and Sweden; and east of the Baltic its northern limit appears to be Riga. 

 It is doubtful if it has ever occurred as far north as Moscow or the Ural 

 Mountains ; but it is very locally distributed in Southern Russia, where it 

 is a partial migrant. It is a resident in the Caucasus and Western 

 Turkestan, and there is an example in the museum at Omsk said to have 

 been obtained in the neighbourhood. It is a resident in the Canaries and 

 North-western Africa ; but in Egypt and Arabia Petraea it is only found 



