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Ground Finches.

THE Bunting, the Chaffinch, and the Sparrow, are examples of the Fringilline, or Ground Finches. The Fringilline, Mr. Swainson observes, may be correctly termed Ground Finches; since with scarcely any exception, they are all birds which habitually walk or hop in such situations, and derive their chief sustenance from seeds of grasses and other plants. Like the generality of birds which live upon the ground, the plumage of nearly all the Fringillinæ is of an earthy colour, that is, of different shades of brown, variegated with blackish spots or markings; while their legs are light coloured. The geographic distribution of these birds is chiefly in the cold and temperate regions of Europe, Asia, and North America; very few, in comparison, are found in South America; and none have yet been discovered in

Australia.*

The union of the Fringilline with the Alaudine is clearly effected by the genus Plectrophanes, or LarkBuntings, which have the bill of Emberiza united to that structure of foot so peculiar to the birds composing the latter group.

There is a peculiarity in the bill of the Buntings which enables them with great facility to crack the husks or shells of the different seeds and berries on which they feed, and with the aid of the tongue to

* Classification of Birds.

M

extricate the kernel or farinaceous portion. The bill is conical in form, strong, hard, and sharp pointed, with the culmen nearly straight. The tomia, or edges of both mandibles, curved inwards; the upper mandible narrower and smaller than the under one, and its roof furnished with a hard, bony, and projecting palatal knob.

There are five British species of Bunting, namely, the Snow-Bunting (Plectrophanes nivalis); Common Bunting (Emberiza miliaria); Yellow Bunting (Emberiza citrinella); Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniculus); Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus); and the Ortolan Bunting (Emberiza hortulana), which is an occasional visitant.

All these live chiefly upon seeds, of which they consume a vast quantity, seeking them upon the plants which produce them, or on the ground; but they also eat insects.

The bill of the Lark Bunting (Plectrophanes) is comparatively shorter, and the palatal knob less developed, than in the true Bunting. The wings are better calculated for extensive flight, being long and acuminate, and having the first quill feather the longest instead of the third. The hind claw is long, and nearly straight, as in the Larks; and the feet are adapted for running upon the ground, and not for perching. They are natives of the Arctic regions, and are driven southward only by the severity of the winter in those latitudes. One species, the Snow Bunting (Plectrophanes nivalis), appears annually to visit the northern portion of this island. In Northumberland, Mr. Selby observes, it rarely happens that

these birds are not annually to be met with in the three varieties of plumage which have caused them to be deemed as separate species by Montague and others, under the names of the Snow, Tawny, and Mountain Bunting.

The Snow-flake, as this bird is sometimes called, generally arrives in the upland or mountainous districts, about the middle or latter part of October, in large flocks, which seem chiefly to consist of the young of the year (or Mountain Buntings), and of females or young males (the Tawny Buntings), with a few adult males intermixed, which at this period, having scarcely acquired their winter livery, are in consequence nearer to the state of the tawny plumage. Afterwards, if the season should be severe, small flocks are seen, principally consisting of adult male birds, in their winter dress, but never in such numbers as are those in the two first-mentioned states.

As the severity of the winter increases, they leave the heaths, where they have fed upon the seeds of various grasses, and, descending to the lower grounds, frequent the oat stubbles; and, if the snow lies deep, they approximate to the coasts, where the influence of the sea-breeze soon exposes a sufficient breadth of ground to afford them subsistence. Their call-note is pleasing, and often repeated during their flight, which is always in a very compact body; and frequently, before settling upon the ground, they make sudden wheels, coming almost in collision with each other, at which time a peculiar guttural note is produced.

As spring approaches, they retire to their northern haunts to breed, and penetrate as far as the coasts of

the Polar sea-to the extreme latitude that our navigators have as yet visited. Countless thousands of them are found on the ice near Spitzbergen; and there are numbers also in Greenland. They appear, indeed, to make the countries within the whole Arctic circle their summer residence.

"The Snow Bunting," says Wilson,“ derives a considerable part of its food from the seeds of certain aquatic plants, which may be one reason for its preferring these remote northern countries, so generally interspersed with streams, ponds, lakes, and shallow arms of the sea, and probably abound with such plants. In passing down the Seneca river, towards Lake Ontario, late in the month of October," continues Wilson, "I was surprised by the appearance of a large flock of these birds feeding on the surface of the water, supported on the tops of a growth of weeds that rose from the bottom, growing so close together that our boat could with great difficulty make way through them. They were running about with great activity; and those I shot and examined were filled, not only with the seeds of this plant, but with a minute kind of shell-fish that adhered to the leaves. In these kinds of aquatic excursions they are doubtless greatly assisted by the length of their hind heel and their claws." *

In size the Snow Buntings resemble the Larks; and they are caught in great numbers by the Laplanders in hair springs, their flesh being exceedingly delicate. The female builds in the crevices of rocks, constructing a nest of grass and feathers, lined with the hair and wool of the Arctic fox, or other quadruped, and lays

* American Ornithology.

about five or six reddish-white eggs, spotted with brown, and nearly spherical.

According to Wilson, the summer dress of the Snow Bunting is a tawny brown, interspersed with white, covering the head, neck, and lower parts; the back is black, each feather being skirted with brown; wings and tail, also black, marked in the following manner :—The three secondaries next the body are bordered with bay, the next with white, and all the rest of the secondaries, as well as the coverts and shoulder of the wing, pure white; the first six primaries are black from their coverts downwards to their extremities; tail forked, the three exterior feathers on each side white, marked on the outer edge near the tip with black, the rest nearly all black; tail coverts, reddish-brown, fading into white; bill, pale brown; legs and feet, black; hind claw long, like that of the Lark, though more curved. In winter they become white on the head, neck, and whole under-side, as well as great part of the wings and rump; the back continues black skirted with brown. Some are even pure white. Indeed, so much does their plumage vary, that no two are found at any time alike.

The Common Bunting (Emberiza miliaria) is commonly found throughout the greater part of Europe, and is plentiful in England, particularly upon cultivated lands, where, in the season of autumn, large flocks congregate together. Hedges, the neighbourhood of farm-houses, and barn-yards, are places to which they commonly resort; and by net and gun many thousands are taken for food, and considered a delicacy. When spring returns, these assembled mul

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