LARK BUNTING. 45 



roofing stacks of barley by drawing out, straw by straw, the 

 thatch, in order to obtain the grain from the ear within. 



The Lark Bunting, although common in many corn dis- 

 tricts, is rather capricious in its choice of locality, and espe- 

 cially avoids hills and thickly wooded parts. According to 

 Temminck it prefers a clayey soil. 



Although residing throughout the year in considerable 

 numbers in Sweden and other northern countries, yet not all 

 of this species remain, many migrating in flocks towards more 

 southern parts, and returning again towards the north in 

 spring. In Shetland, proofs of this may be noticed, accord- 

 ing to the observations of T. Edmonston, Esq., in a Fauna 

 of that island, in which these birds are spoken of as common 

 in large flocks during winter, a few pairs only remaining to 

 breed. In England, it is supposed that a considerable ac- 

 cession to their numbers takes place every autumn ; and 

 as these birds are frequently caught in nets in company with 

 larks, it is probable they also migrate at the same period, 

 and in society with them. 



The note of this Bunting has in it very little that is 

 pleasing ; its harsh tones are, in spring, frequently heard from 

 the top of a naked tree or thorn hedge, in which the bird 

 sits in an upright position, as if acting the part of a sentinel. 

 At this period, the winter associations being broken up, pairs 

 only of these birds are seen, accompanied later in the season 

 by their young family. 



The Lark Bunting builds its nest very near the ground, 

 usually raised from it only by the long dead grass or dry 

 materials among which it is placed. The situation chosen 

 is a hedge-bank among loose herbage, or among the corn, 

 and usually but little concealed. The nest is constructed 

 of dry grass-stalks, and lined with similar materials of the 

 finest description, very neatly laid round in circles ; but, 

 owing to the loose nature of the materials, it is difficult to 



