52 EMBERIZID/E. 



its supplications for food to it alone, never descending from 

 its perch to supply itself, unless the irresistible temptation of 

 a hairy caterpillar was offered, on which occasions its laziness 

 was so far overcome, that it would hastily descend, and seize 

 it with great avidity. 



The nest of the Yellow Bunting is usually placed upon 

 the ground, beneath the shelter of long grass or matted briars, 

 and bedded upon the surface ; it is composed, in the ground- 

 work, of very coarse tufts of grass and straw in great pro- 

 fusion ; finer stems of dead grasses are employed in the inner 

 work ; and the lining is of roots, and finally of horsehair; the 

 whole possesses a sort of tenacity while it remains on the spot 

 where it was put together ; but, being loosely built of stiff 

 and straggling materials, especially on the outside, it is a very 

 unsightly subject for examination when in the hand. The 

 nests of this species are not, however, invariably placed upon 

 the ground ; we have found them occasionally at the elevation 

 of one, two, and even five feet ; in such cases they have been 

 in close furze or brambles. 



The eggs of this species are always greatly to be admired ; 

 the veins and delicate markings that distinguish them being 

 truly curious. The ground is generally cream colour, mar- 

 bled and veined with pale purple ; darker veins and lines of 

 indescribable delicacy and variety are disposed irregularly over 

 the surface ; these are, mostly, very dark brown in colour, 

 seldom quite black. In some specimens, the ground colour is 

 bluish-white, in others, pale stone ; and we have a set, taken 

 together from a nest closely concealed beneath tangled grass 

 and briars, one of which is of the usual colour first described, 

 and the other two are deep flesh colour, approaching to tile 

 red, with reddish-brown streaks and lines. We have, also, 

 specimens of this species of a spotless milk white, and others 

 plain stone colour, without any spot or line whatever. The 

 eggs of this species do not vary greatly in form or size, in 



