BUNTING 
EMBERIZA 
MILIARIA. 
Common in tlie south, and distributed by no means sparingly over many of the cultivated districts in the 
northern and western Highlands, this species is well known in most parts of the British Islands. According 
to my own observations, it is more numerous in Sussex (especially within a few miles of the sea-coast) than in 
any other county where I have met with a chance of studying its habits. 
During summer the Common Bunting is usually to be seen in the immediate vicinity of hay-fields. The 
male, perched either on some commanding twig along a hedgerow, or on the topmost bar of a post-and-rail 
fence, is sure to attract attention while uttering from time to time his somewhat monotonous song. Here by 
the roadside he will await within a few yards the approach of passers by (I have frequently driven past one 
within six feet without his exhibiting the slightest sign of alarm), and then with drooping legs and an 
apparently laboured flight, will flutter some forty or fifty yards into the field, and take up a position on any 
rank plant or strand of grass that will sustain his weight. From this point of vantage ho will again continue 
to drone out his harsh and tuneless ditty. 
This species appears to be late in nesting; I have repeatedly seen fresh eggs mown out in June when the 
hay was cut— the fields of seed-grass being the favourite breeding-quarters of this Bunting in Sussex : their 
nests are also occasionally discovered under the shelter of coarse herbage on the furze-covered downs. I am 
not aware of any eggs that vary to a greater extent ; at times they differ but slightly from those of the Yellow 
Hammer, while clutches may now and then be seen blotched and scrawled in every conceivable manner with a 
rich red-brown. Eggs taken in the east of Sussex, I remarked in several instances, both in shape and 
colouring, bore but a very slight resemblance to those procured to the -west of Brighton. 
As early as the last week in August I have noticed these birds especially numerous along the south 
coast and commencing to flock. Whether these were all natives of the district, or visitors from more northern 
localities, it Avas impossible to form an opinion. On the approach of winter large bodies collect and roost in 
the marine weeds growing on the mudflats above high-water mark in Slioreham Harbour. Soon after 3 p.m. 
they may be seen flying singly or in small parties from the surrounding country, and, after hovering round a 
few times, pitching straight down into the thick cover. If disturbed when their quarters are once taken up, 
it would be discovered that the birds were scattered over several acres of the flats — one, two, or three rising 
here and there, wherever the cover v r as most dense. It is not till early in the spring that this situation is 
totally deserted ; I have watched a few scattered birds gathering towards the harbour shortly before sunset as 
late as the beginning of April. 
The upper mandible of this Bunting is furnished with a very prominent protuberance or tooth. This is 
supposed to assist the bird in shelling the various seeds which form the principal part of its food. 
