The flight is described by Macgillivray as “ strong, capable of being long protracted, undulated, being 
performed by alternate beatings and cessations, but heavier and more steady than that of the Yellow Bunting. 
^V hen surprised in a field, or roused from a corn-yard, they fly oflf with a direct rapid motion ; but often 
when an individual which has been resting on a twig or wall-top starts away, it idlows its feet to hang for a 
short time before it commences its bounding flight. I believe there is no other bird of the order with us 
that has this habit.” 
“ The common note of the Corn-Bunting,” says the same author, “ is a strong chuck or chit, and its song 
consists of a hurried repetition of short unharmonious notes, terminated by a protracted one : although some- 
what similar to the song of the Yellow Bunting, it is by no means so lugubrious ; but if not sufficiently 
melodious to call forth exclamations of delight, it forms a pleasing counterpart or contrast to the sweet 
notes of the mellow-throated warblers. The song, such as it is, may be heard occasionally at all seasons, 
especially in calm weather ; but during the breeding-time it is more frequent, and then the male, perched 
on a wall or stone, a twig, or a tall herbaceous plant, especially a dock or a bur, continues to utter at short 
Intervals his singular cry, which, although not loud, extends to a great distance.” 
As spring advances the winter flocking ceases, the birds again separate into pairs, and towards the end 
of April begin to prepare for the task of reproduction, by the construction of nests of dry stalks and blades of 
grass, with a lining of fibrous roots and hair or other suitable materials. A nest formerly in the possession of 
the late Mr. Heysham, of Carlisle, was loosely composed of golden straw-like grasses gradually becoming 
coarser towards the exterior, where they were mixed with a small portion of moss ; the stems of the grasses 
in the interior were, curiously, placed erect, with the flowering part uppermost. Mr. Hewitson describes the 
nest as commonly composed of a few stieks, pieces of moss and dry grass, becoming finer towards the inside, 
which is sometimes completed with the addition of a few hairs. “ The eggs,” he adds, “ are four or five 
in number, and differ a good deal in size, shape, and colour, but always retain the character of the genus. 
Their size prevents them from being mistaken for those of any other Bunting.” In proof of the diversity 
in the colouring of the eggs, I may mention that Macgillivray describes them as “ greyish or purplish-white, 
patched and spotted with pale greyish purple, and marked with spots, dots, and curved streaks of blackish 
brown ; ” Yarrell, as “ of a reddish white, or pale purple red, streaked and spotted with dark purple brown 
wfliile one figured by Mr. Hewitson in the third edition of his work, which he remarks is larger and more 
richly coloured than usual, is represented of a creamy white, washed with pale purple at the smaller end, 
blotched on the remainder of the surface, but particularly round the larger circumference, with pink, and a 
few oval spots of various sizes blackish brown. The average size of the eggs appears to be about one inch 
in length, by eight lines and a half in breadth. 
The Plate represents a male, of the natural size, on a sprig of broom, Saurotharnnus scoparlus. 
