are heard and seen in these situations during the greater part of summer, after which they are met with in flocks, and continue so during winter: they are often shot in great numbers, or caught in nets; and from the similarity of their plumage, are not unfrequently sold for Larks. The female makes her nest among the thick grass, a little elevated above the ground; she lays five or six eggs. Buffon observes, that in France the Bunting is seldon; seen during winter, but that it arrives soon after the Swallow, and spreads itself through almost every part of Europe. Their food consists chiefly of grain; they likewise eat the various kinds of insects which they find in the fields and meadows.

THE crew of a collier vessel caught this rare visitant at sea, as it was making its way to the shore, on the Yorkshire coast, after a severe storm of wind in the month of of May, 1822.* It lived a short time after it was brought to land, and was lent to this work by G. T. Fox, Esq. of Westoe, and is now in the Museum of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle. It is about the size of the Yellow Bunting. The bill dark reddish; the head and neck, as far as the breast, pale olive green, slightly powdered with pale ash grey. The chin and throat are pale greenish yellow; a streak of the same colour falls down from the corners of the

• About this time a pair of these birds were seen in the garden at Cherry-burn, on the banks of the Tyne.

lower mandibles, before the auriculars. The breast and belly are of a light rusty chesnut; the vent and under coverts of the tail, the same, but of a paler and more dingy cast; the feathers on the back, scapulars, and greater and lesser coverts are very dark brown in the middle, but the rest of the webs are much lighter and of a rusty brown; the lower part of the back and upper coverts of the tail are also of the latter colour; the quills and tail feathers are deepish brown; the former edged with light brown; middle tail feathers the same; the rest plain, and the outer feathers are somewhat longer than the middle ones. The legs reddish yellow. Dr Latham says, this bird is in "the collection of M. Tunstall, Esq." "That figured in Brown's work, was caught in Mary-la-Bonne fields, by a bird catcher." The Tunstall bird is at present in the Newcastle Museum.*

⚫ M. Temminck does not appear to have given this species a place in his work.

(Emberiza Citrinella, Linn.-Le Bruant, Buff.)

LENGTH somewhat above six inches. Bill dusky;

eyes hazel; the prevailing colour is yellow, mixed with brown of various shades; the crown of the head in general, is bright yellow, more or less variegated with brown; the cheeks, throat, and lower part of the belly pure yellow; the breast reddish, and the sides dashed with streaks of the same; the hinder part of the neck and back are greenish olive; the greater quills dusky, edged with pale yellow; lesser quills and scapulars dark brown, edged with grey; the tail is dusky, and a little forked, the feathers edged with light brown, the outermost with white; the legs yellowish brown. It is somewhat difficult to describe a species of bird of which no

two are to be found perfectly similar, but its specific characters are plain, and cannot easily be mistaken. The colours of the female are less bright than those of the male, with very little yellow about the head.

This bird is common in every lane and hedge, flitting before the traveller as he passes along, or uttering its simple and frequently repeated monotone. It feeds on various kinds of seeds, insects, &c. The female makes an artless nest, composed of hay, dried roots, and moss, lined with hair and wool: she lays four or five eggs, marked with dark irregular streaks, and frequently has more than one brood in the season. In Italy, where small birds of almost every description are made use of for the table, this is esteemed very good eating, and is frequently fattened for that purpose like the Ortolan; but with us, who are accustomed to grosser kinds of food, it is considered too insignificant to form any part of our repasts.