82 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
streak of black, the lower parts white. In Lorrain, and some 
parts ot Europe, they are birds of passage. 
* * le 1'awnif" Bunting is six inches 3-4ths lono;. The head 
and neck are tawny, the back black, the lower parts of 
the body are white, and the tail a little forked. It is not a 
common bird in England, i he Snow Bunting has the fore- 
head and crown white, with some mixture of black ; the back, 
and middle leathers of the tail black ; the rump, the outer 
feathers of the wings and tail white. They are called in Scot- 
land Snow-fakes, from their appearance in snowny weather: 
the more northward they are found, the whiter the plumage! 
lhe mountain-finch is less common. The plumage in gene* 
raj, on the upper parts, is ash-colour spotted with black f and 
the breast is waved with flame-colour. 
But the most famous bird of all this genus is the Ortolan. 
It is somewhat less than the yellow-hammer. The plumage' 
on the upper parts is brownish chesnut, mixed with black 
the under parts are pale rufous. These birds are common 
in France and Italy, but are not found in England. They are 
caught in numbers to fatten for the table. Tins is done by in- 
cluding them in a darkroom, and feeding them with oats^and 
millet. By this process they become so fat, that they would 
die from that cause alone, were they not killed for sale. In 
this state they will sometimes weigh three ounces, and are 
accounted the most luxurious repast of the epicure beirm 
as^ it were, one lump of exquisite fat. 
■ , , ^ unting is a native of America. It is 
in general brown, with a yellow breast, and a black spot 
Under the throat, lliere are about sixty-five species of the 
bunting, foreign and domestic. 
The Finch genus is distinguished from the preceding by a 
bill perfectly conic. It includes more than one hundred 
species, one of which, the Sparrow, has given a name to this 
order of birds. Of the sparrow there are two species, the 
l ire and the House-sparrow, the latter of which is the larger : 
they are both well-known birds. 
lhe Goldfinch is the most beautiful bird which inhabils 
these remons, and is also one of the most docile and harmo* 
mo us. The Chafinch resembles the bullfinch, but it is not 
so black on the head, nor so deep a red on the breast, and is 
conspicuous for a broad bar of white on each wino- • its sono- 
is agreeable in spring, but in summer it only chirps The 
Siskin, or Aberdavinc, is a much less common bird, beino- i„ 
fact only a bird of passage in England. The bill is white, the 
