BUNTINGS.— SPARROWS. 61 



dark bluish ash-colour above, whitish beneath, and the flanks 

 are tinged of a yellowish brown. 



57. The Buntings, — Emberiza — {Plate S,Jig. 9.) have a short, 

 straight, conical beak, the upper mandible being narrower, enters 

 within the lower, and there is a projecting hard tubercle on the 

 palate. All these birds are granivorous, yet they also eat insects ; 

 they inhabit thickets, fields covered with hedges, gardens, and 

 the woods rarely. They have little foresight, and are readily 

 caught in traps. Some of them assemble in numerous troops in 

 the winter. The most common species in France are the Yellow 

 Bunting, — Emberiza citrinella, — the Common Bunting, — Embe- 

 riza miliaria, — and the Ortolan, — Emberiza hortulana, — and 

 there are several in the United States. Amongst the latter may 

 be mentioned here, perhaps, the Rice Bird, or Bob-o-Link, — 

 Emberiza oryzlvora, or Dolichonyx oryzivorus. 



58. The Sparronvs have a conical beak which is more or less 

 thick at the base ; they generally live on grains, and are for the 

 most part voracious and destructive. They are divided into 

 Sparrows properly so called. Weavers, Linnets, Goldfinches, &,c. 



To the genus of Sparrows properly so called, — Pyrgita, — 

 belong : 



59. The Common Sparrow, — Fringilla domestica, — which is 

 brown, spotted blackish above, with a whitish band on the wing, 

 gray beneath, the sides of the crown in the male reddish, and his 

 throat black. It abounds in all parts of the eastern continent, 

 except in those places where wheat does not grow ; this bird 

 nests in holes in walls, and is very destructive from its voracity. 

 The farmers complain very much of the pillage of these birds ; 

 the destructive war they wage against caterpillars, and winged 

 insects, compensates, however, for their passing devastations ; 

 and every thing considered, it may be said they are more 

 beneficial than injurious to rural economy. The sparrow is 

 courageous, and often contends with birds ten times larger than 

 itself, and som.etimes enters dove-cots. These birds ordinarily 

 nest under eaves or in hollovv's of trees : the nest is constructed 

 of hay and straw, lined with feathers ; it is placed so as not to 

 be injured either by the sunshine or rain. The tenderness of the 

 female for her young is very interesting. The male is distin- 

 guished from the female by a black spot on the beak. 



57. What are the characters of the Buntings ? What are their habits ? 



58. How are the Sparrovv s characterised ? 



59. What are the characters of the common Sparrow? What are its 

 habits? Where is it found? 



