BUNTINGS. 
411 
on two occasions in Great Britain. In Greece and Turkey, on the other hand, it is 
a common summer bird. Lindermayer gives the following account of its habits 
“ This bunting arrives always in the last live days of April in Greece, and, like 
other migrants, appears everywhere at once, so that the flats near the sea, which 
are covered with vines and other creepers, and also places where the olive-trees are 
scattered about, are alive with this lovely and melodious bird. It is peculiarly 
partial to vineyards, where it builds 011 the vines, pomegranates, thorns, or almond 
trees. Its nest is always formed of dried straws, and is carefully made and lined 
with horsehair. Five eggs are the usual complement, and these are pale sea-green, 
covered with scattered dark brown spots, though sometimes quite unspotted. I 
have received hundreds of nests, and often found them myself, as they are not 
difficult to discover, the bird not being at all shy, and only leaving the nest when 
approached within a distance of about a yard. I have often known the female to 
lay afresh after her eggs have been removed. During the breeding-season the male 
sits near the nest, on a branch or a tree-top, and continually serenades his mate 
with his sweet song. If scared away, even by a shot, it retreats to the nearest tree 
and continues its song.” This bunting much resembles the common species in 
general habits, often sitting on the top of a bush or low tree, and pouring forth 
its simple notes, or flying from one elevated part to another with its legs dangling 
down. The adult male in the breeding-time has the crown and sides of the head 
black, the entire back and scapulars chestnut, the primaries and tail-feathers brown, 
the whole under surface, as well as the sides of the neck, rich canary-yellow, and 
the sides of the breast and flanks chestnut. The female is a dull-plumaged bird by 
comparison with her brilliant mate, having the upper-parts nearly uniform brown, 
but the under-surface yellow, with ashy margins to the breast feathers, and the 
flanks tinged with ash colour. 
Yellow-Breasted This beautiful bunting {E. aureola ) is distributed over the northern 
Bunting. parts of the Old World from Russia to the Pacific, and has even strayed 
as far west as Heligoland, and been captured also in Italy. Dr. Dybowski found 
this bunting to be one of the commonest birds in Eastern Siberia, where it 
frequents the valleys, particularly on the plain, and where bushes abound. It 
generally perches on the top of a plant or bush, and there sings continually, its 
song being short and often interrupted, but sweet. The peasants look on it as the 
best songster in Dauria; but that is according to their taste, for there are many 
other birds there which sing better. These birds arrive on their breeding-ground 
about the middle of May, and commence building their nests early in June, although 
most of them only begin breeding late in this month. Their nests are placed 011 
the ground and constructed of dry bents, lined with horsehair. The female sits 
hard, and will permit anyone to approach quite close to her; while, when driven 
off her eggs, she keeps flying about with the male closely in attendance, perching 
every now and then on the neighbouring bushes, and uttering a note of lamentation 
like that of the whinchat. The eggs of this bunting generally resemble those of 
the reed-bunting, but the ground-colour is tinged with greenish. In the neighbour¬ 
hood of Archangel the yellow-breasted bunting constantly frequents swampy 
meadows, or marshes overgrown with birches and willows. The general colour of 
the male is deep chestnut; the forehead, sides of the face, and upper throat being 
