THE MEADOW-BUNTING. 

 Entberiza cia, Linnaeus. 

 Plate i8. 



This species inhabits the central parts of Europe and the countries bordering 

 the Mediterranean, ranging westwards as far as Portugal. 



Five examples have been taken in England, four of these in Sussex and one 

 in Kent. 



Colonel Irby, describing the habits of the Meadow-Bunting in his work, The 

 Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar, 2nd ed., p. i lo, says : " It is a common and, 

 like most of the Buntings, a stupidly tame bird, as far as my experience goes, 

 living about stony, rocky, and hilly ground. ... In April they frequent the slopes 

 and tops of the sierras, nesting during that month." 



The Meadow-Bunting builds its nest, which is similar to the Yellow Bunting's, 

 on the ground, and lays four or five eggs, greyish in ground colour, and darkly 

 marked with undulating lines running into each other. 



Like its congeners, it feeds on seeds and insects, and its song also resembles 

 that of the Yellow Bunting. 



The female is much duller in colour than the male, whilst the stripes on the 

 side of the crown and face are absent. 



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