Emberiza passerina, LINNÆUS; L'Ortolan Passerin; Der
Sperlingsammer, BECHSTEIN.
This species must have been confounded with the preceding, or it would
have been better known, as it is not rare either in autumn or spring. It
is smaller and more slender than the former, being only five inches
long, of which the tail measures two and a quarter; the beak is black
above and light brown below; the iris is of a dark chestnut; the feet
are nine lines in height and of a dusky flesh-colour; but the plumage in
general is similar to that of the female of the preceding species.
The male has the top of the head red, with a grey longitudinal streak in
the middle, and many black spots arising from the deeper shade of the
feathers which appears in every direction; a dusky reddish white line
passes from the nostrils above, and also a little under the eyes, and
widening behind on the temples, a chestnut brown colour breaks through a
deep black, which reaches the sides of the neck and becomes a spot
there.
The colours of the female are in general lighter, and the black does not
appear on the top of the head; a reddish white streak passes above the
eyes, another descends from the base of the beak down the sides of the
neck, a third, but of a dusky black, extends from each side of the chin
to beyond the middle of the neck.
When kept in the house the black disappears from the head of the male,
and the upper part of the neck becomes greyish white, spotted
longitudinally with dusky black.
OBSERVATIONS.--Thick woods and bushes in a mountainous country are the
favourite haunts of the sparrow bunting. It is a bird of passage,
which quits us in October or November and returns in April. It is not
rare in Thuringia, particularly at the time of passage; formerly it
was only known in Russia. Its food, when wild, is insects and all
kinds of grain.
In the house, it is fed on the same food as the reed bunting, which
it very much resembles in its song and habits: it is taken in the
same manner.