The young of Buntings resemble the female, but are characterized, where striation is present, by a greater amount of streaking.
At the autumn moult of the first year the young assume the
plumage of the adult female, and then the males gradually put on
the plumage of the adult male, the process taking several months.
The Buntings frequent cornfields, waste lands, and grassy tracts of country. They are more or less gregarious. They devour grain in large quantities and also feed on seeds of all sorts. Their nests are cup-shaped and placed on or near the ground in grass and bushes, and sometimes in crevices of rocks and walls. The eggs, as a rule, are richly marked with spots and lines of red and purple.
With, the exception of one Bunting which is crested, all the Indian species appear to me to be sufficiently similar in structure to be congeneric, and I have accordingly placed them all in the genus Emberiza.
Key to the Genera.
a. No crest EMBERIZA, p. 250. b. A well-developed crest MELOPHUS, p. 265.
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Genus EMBERIZA, Briss., 1760.
Fig. 70. Head of E. aureola,
The genus Emberiza contains the typical Buntings, which are crestless and have a slightly forked tail.
Key to the Species[1].
a. A large distinct white patch on the outermost tail-feather. a'. Sides of body streaked or differ- ently coloured to abdomen. a". No trace of yellow on lower plumage. a' . Chin and throat black. a 1 . Breast white E. schceniclus <$ , p. 251. b*. Breast chestnut E. stewarti $ , p. 256.
b'". Chin and throat chestnut .. E. kucocephala <$ f p. 254.
- ↑ This key applies only to fully adult birds, and the margins of the feathers in winter plumage are disregarded, the colours noted being those which are most fully developed at the breeding-season.
