BUNTINGS. 
457 
the same, interiorly dusky and tipt with whitish ; back and wings 
rufous-grey, the feathers each with a dusky centre ; primaries dusky, 
tipt and edged with whitish ; secondaries broadly edged with pale 
drab, and widely notched at the tips. Tail black and forked, the two 
middle feathers reddish-grey centered with dusky, the two outer 
with the exterior webs white ; breast with a dusky vinous tinge and 
marked with very faint greyish spots. Sides streaked with pale red- 
dish-grey, Belly and vent white. Bill dusky. Tongue truncate 
and bifid. Legs and claws black. Hind-heel very long and almost 
straight. Iris hazel. — Above the eye-brow on either side of the head 
there is a tuft of long black feathers which the bird has, at will, the 
power of erecting like the horns of the owl. 
BUNTINGS. (Emberiza, Lin. ) 
In these the Bill is short, robust, conic, somewhat compressed 
and without notch ; the margins contracted inward, a little angular 
near the base; the upper mandible rounded above, acute, smaller 
and narrower than the lower ; the palate with a longitudinal bony 
tubercle : the lower mandible rounded beneath and very acute. Nos- 
trils basal, small, partly covered by the feathers of the forehead. 
Tarsus about equal to the middle toe ; the lateral toes equal; outer 
united at base to the middle one. Wings, first primary almost equal 
to the 2d and 3d which are longest. Tail even or emarginate. 
The female differs from the male. The young resemble the female, 
but are darker and more deeply spotted. The European and North 
American species moult annually. They live in pairs, or move in 
small families, and feed on farinaceous seeds, and sometimes on in- 
sects, which they kill previous to swallowing. They build amidst 
low bushes and grass ; are somewhat musical, and breed several 
times a year ; the eggs being 4 to 6. They extend themselves widely 
in temperate climates. 
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