CLASS II. AVES: OEDER 2. PASSERES. 
171 
land it unites in winter with flocks of cliaffinches and green-finches, and feeds on grain-seeds and 
insects. It is a pleasing singer, though its notes are few and repeated five or six times in quick 
succession. In Italj great quantities are caught, with the ortolan bunting, for the table. 
The Black-headed Bunting or Heed-Bunt- 
iifG, E, schoeniculus, is six inches long ; above black • 
beneath white, streaked and clouded with brown ; 
common throughout Europe ; a summer visitor to 
the north. 
The CiRL Bunting, S. cirlus — the Bruant Zizi 
of the French — is five and a half inches long, with 
chestnut, black and yellow above, dull yellow be- 
neath ; common in the south of Europe ; migrates 
to the north in summer. 
Other foreign species of Bunting are as follows : 
;'j the Mountain-Bunting, E. montana, six inches 
long ; ash-colored, spotted with black, above ; the 
breast rusty-red ; is a rather rare species ; inhabits 
northern Europe ; migrates southwardly in mid- 
winter. The Common or Corn-Bunting of Europe, 
E. miliaria, is seven and a half inches long ; red- 
dish-gray above ; yellowish-white below ; inhabits 
Europe and Northern Asia; is sedentary in Ger- 
many. The Foolish Bunting — Bruant Foil of 
the French — E. cia, is six inches long ; brownish- 
red, spotted with black, above ; rust-color below ; 
it is fond of solitude, and easily caught in traps, 
whence its name; inhabits Southern Europe. The 
Sparrow-Bunting, E. passerina of Bechstein, is 
five inches long ; red, olive, and black above ; greenish-white, spotted with brown, beneath ; a 
bird of passage, inhabiting the mountains of Europe in summer. 
Among the American buntings, some of which pass among us in popular language for spar- 
rows, there are none of particular celebrity. They are all migratory, and feed on seeds, sometimes 
on insects ; they live in pairs, often moving in small flocks. 
The Black-throated Bunting, E. Americana, is six and a half inches long; back grayish- 
brown, with longitudinal streaks ; beneath yellow and white. In its flight and notes it closely 
resembles the corn-bunting of Europe ; the nest is neatly made of grass, usually beneath a tuft 
of herbage, and partly imbedded in the soil ; the eggs are five or six, dull white, blotched with 
umber. It is migratory, breeding in summer throughout the United States, but most abundantly 
at the South. 
Townsend's Bunting, JE. Townsendii, is five and a half inches long ; bluish-gray, marked with 
black, above ; below grayish-white ; migratory ; found in Pennsylvania and the Rocky Moun- 
tains. The Lark-Bunting, E. grammaca, is six and a half inches long ; light grayish-brown 
above ; below yellowish-white ; migratory ; found on the upper Missouri and eastern declivities 
of the Rocky Mountains. The Savannah Bunting — Fringilla savanna of Wilson — E. savanna, 
is a very abundant species, resembling the sparrows, and in winter associating with the field-spar- 
row and bay-winged sparrow. It confines itself principally to the ground, where it runs with 
great agility, lowering its body as if to evade your view, and when in danger, hiding as closely 
as a mouse ; it seldom takes wing unless much alarmed or suddenly surprised. In winter, how- 
ever, it comes familiarly and fearlessly about the house and garden, sitting on fences and low 
buildings. It is five and a half inches long ; reddish-brown, spotted, above ; lower parts white, 
its nest is made on the ground, at the foot of a bush or tuft of grass ; the eggs are four to 
six ; there are usually two broods in a season. This bird has a few notes, frequently uttered, 
but no song; it is common throughout the United States; very abundant in the South in 
THE CIRL BUNTING. 
