EMBERIZA, the bunting, in natural history, a genus of birds of the order Passeres. Generic : bill conic ; mandibles receding from each other, from the base downwards ; the lower with the sides narrowed in ; the upper containing a large knob, of use to break hard seeds. There are, according to Gmelin, seventy-seven species. Latham enumerates sixty-three, of which the most important are the following: E. Ili valis, the snow bunting. These birds are about the size of a chaffinch, and have been found in the most northern latitudes to which navigators have pene trated. They are found, not merely on the land about Spitzbergen, but upon the ice contiguous to it, though merely graminivorous birds, of which genus they are the sole species found in that cli mate. In the north of Great Britian they sometimes appear in vast flocks, and are considered as the harbingers of a severe winter. They are known in Scotland by the name of snow flake. E. hortulana, the ortolan, is somewhat less than the yellow-hammer, is common in France and Italy, in Germany and Sweden. These birds are migratory, and in their pass age are caught in vast multitudes, to be fed for the table, being considered as extremely delicate and luxurious food. They are enclosed by professional feed ers in dark rooms, where oats, and other grains, and seeds, are provided for them in the fullest abundance. On these arti cles they feed with such voracity, that in a short time they attain that size, which it is impossible for them to ex ceed, and constitute, it may almost be said, one mass of exquisitely flavoured and luscious fat. From this state they would soon sink in lethargy, but they are now killed by their owners for the market. A full-fed ortolan weighs about three ounces. It rarely passes farther north than Russia, and is not to be found iu England, or the United States. By many its notes are particularly admired. It sometimes builds on low hedges, and occasionally on the ground, and generally breeds twice a year. E. citrinella, or the yellow hammer, is extremely common in Great Britain, where it lays its eggs on the ground, or in some low bush, con structing it with little art ; it possesses no interesting musical tones, and is tame and stupid in its character ; it feeds on grain and insects, and is to be found in almost every country in Europe ; its flesh in England is generally bitter, but in Italy the yellow hammer is fattened like the ortolan for the table, and is in considerable estimation. E. miliaria, the common bunt
ing. These birds are also particularly common in England, and appear fre quently in vast flocks, especially in the winter, during which they are caught in i nets, or shot in vast numbers, and sold to many under the successful pretence of their being a species of larks. They are stationary in England, but on the con tinent are birds of passage. During the incubation of the female, the male is ob served frequently on the bare and promi nent branch of some .neighbouring tree, exerting himself to cheer her confinement by his song, which, however, is harsh and monotonous in the extreme • at short in tervals he utters a sort of trembling shriek, several times repeated. E. or, zi vora, or the rice bird, is peculiar to Ame rica, where its depredations on the rice and maize subject it to the peculiar aver sion of the farmer. They are occasion ally kept for the sake of their music. They frequent the shores of rivers in the eastern and northern states, during the autumn, in immense flocks, feeding on the seeds of wild rice, or reeds, as they are called in Pennsylvania (Zizania clavu losa). They are then shot in great num bers for the market, are extremely fat and delicious, not inferior to the ortolan. During the season of their loves, the co lour of the male differs very considerably from that of the female, but gradually as similates with it, until, in the autumn, they are almost undistinguishable from each other by colour. Their brumal re treat is unknown. It is, however, far to the south, and perhaps without the boun daries of the United States. For the cirl bunting, see Ayes, Plate VI. fig. 4. For the black-head bunting, see Ayes, Plate VI. fig. 5.