74 
allen’s naturalist's library. 
Adult Female. — Similar to the male, but smaller. Total 
length, 6'5 inches; wing, 3^45 . 
In winter the general colour of the plumage is much more 
rufous. 
Range in Great Britain. — Nearly universal, extending even to 
the Shetlands, but is somewhat local. 
Range outsido the British Islands. — Pretty generally distributed 
in Europe, but especially so in the southern and central parts 
of the Continent. Mr. Howard Saunders says that in the 
Spanish Peninsula and other great corn-producing countries of 
the south, as well as in North Africa and the Canaries, it is 
“ resident and extremely numerous.” It does not extend very 
high north, being only found in the south of Scandinavia, and 
thence its range tends south-eastwards, its most northern limit 
in Russia being the vicinity of Riga, and it is not known, 
according to Mr. Seebohm, to occur near Moscow or in the 
Urals. It is, however, found in the Caucasus, and its farthest 
eastern range is Bushire, in the Persian Gulf. Its supposed 
occurrence in Sind is not altogether authentic. The birds 
from the more eastern localities are paler in colour than those 
from Western Europe. 
Habits. — The name of “Corn” Bunting for the present 
species is decidedly appropriate, at least as far as the south 
of England is concerned, for it is generally in the vicinity of 
corn land that the Bunting is observed. Its peculiar note 
attracts attention, as the bird sits on the top of a tree or bush, 
or, as is often the case, on a telegraph-wire. Beginning very 
much like that of the Yellow Bunting it trails off into a feeble 
ending, instead of the ascending note with which the last- 
named bird finishes its song. The Corn-Bunting is, to a 
certain extent, migratory, and flocks of the species are met 
with in winter. 
Nest. — To be found towards the end of May, as the species 
is a late breeder. It is generally placed in a hollow in the 
the ground, generally in a corn-field, hidden under a tuft of 
grass' 3 or a small bush. It is an inartistic structure of bents or 
dry grass, or made only of rootlets, with a few finer grasses or 
hairs for lining. 
