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BAY-WINGED BUNTING. 



~ Emberiza graminea, Gmel. 

 PLATE CLIX.— Male. 



I have never seen the Bay-winged Bunting in any portion of Louisiana, 

 Missouri, Kentucky, or Ohio, and am therefore inclined to look upon it as a 

 resident of the country lying to the eastward of the range of the Alleghanies. 

 It there occurs from Georgia to Massachusetts, both along the shores and 

 inland, as far as the base of the mountains, and here and there on the moun- 

 tains themselves, but seldom in places to which cultivation has not extended. 

 I have thought it prepossessed in favour of sandy ground, and dry barren 

 soils. It sings sweetly, and at times for half an hour, without changing its 

 place, either from the tops of the sassafras or sumach bushes which grow 

 along the fences, or from the upper bar or stake of a fence itself. During 

 this little serenade it is easily approached, but when on the ground, where it 

 runs nimbly and with grace, it is rather shy. It is fond of scratching in the 

 warm and dry sand, and of wallowing in it, to cleanse its body. Its flight, 

 which is easy, consists of a succession of gentle undulations, and, when it is 

 chased, sometimes extends over the whole of a field. It is a solitary bird, 

 and is rather pugnacious, for when two males or two females happen to meet, 

 little skirmishes frequently ensue. The nest, which is placed among the 

 grass, and partly sunk in the ground, little attention being paid to its con- 

 cealment, is prettily constructed. It is formed externally of leaves and fine 

 grass, and is well lined with horse hair, so as to look neat and comfortable. 

 The female lays from four to six eggs, about the middle of April, in favour- 

 able seasons, and generally rears two broods each year. I have shot these 

 birds during winter, in the neighbourhood of Lancaster in Pennsylvania, 

 where but few are seen. At the same period of the year they were found 

 numerous along the sea-coast of Virginia and Carolina. Their food consists 

 principally of the seeds of grasses and other plants, although they sometimes 

 run after insects and eat them also. Their flesh is juicy, tender and savoury. 



This species extends its migrations to the shores of the Columbia river, 

 where it was procured by Dr. Townsend; and it is mentioned by Dr. Rich- 

 ardson as one of the birds that reach the prairies of the Saskatchewan early 

 in May, to depart in September. In these distant localities it breeds on the 

 ground, as it is wont to do in our own Middle Districts, as far south as 



