bunting

bunting
bunting1
/bun"ting/, n.
1. a coarse, open fabric of worsted or cotton for flags, signals, etc.
2. patriotic and festive decorations made from such cloth, or from paper, usually in the form of draperies, wide streamers, etc., in the colors of the national flag.
3. flags, esp. a vessel's flags, collectively.
[1735-45; perh. orig. "sifting cloth," hence bunt to sift (ME bonten) + -ING1]
bunting2
/bun"ting/, n.
any of several small, chiefly seed-eating birds of the genera Emberiza, Passerina, and Plectrophenax. Cf. indigo bunting, reed bunting, snow bunting.
[1250-1300; ME < ?]
bunting3
/bun"ting/, n.
a hooded sleeping garment for infants. Also called sleeper.
[1920-25; special use of BUNTING1]

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Common name for any of about 37 Old World species (genus Emberiza) of finch, as well as certain similar species found in the New World.

All belong to the family Fringillidae, and many are recognizable by strongly patterned heads or bright colours. Emberiza species are seed eaters that commonly breed in temperate Eurasia and from northern Africa to India. The snow bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) breeds in the far north, and the lark bunting (Calamospiza melanocorys) inhabits the U.S. Great Plains. U.S. species include the indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea) and the painted bunting (P. ciris). The male painted bunting, with red, green, and blue feathers, is the most colourful bird that breeds in the U.S.

Painted bunting (Passerina ciris)

Donald D. Burgess from E.R. Degginger
EB Inc.

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bird
 any of a number of species of seed-eating birds (bird) of the family Emberizidae in the Old World genus Emberiza and also a number of American species in two other genera, Passerina and Plectrophenax. In some species, males are very brightly coloured.

      The Old World buntings are a group of more than 35 species in Europe, Asia, and Africa. They include the colourful yellow-breasted bunting (Emberiza aureola), widespread across Siberia and northeastern Europe, and the reed bunting (E. schoeniclus), a chunky bird common to marshes across Europe and Asia.

      The white buntings of the genus Plectrophenax are hardy songbirds (songbird) of the Arctic. They include the snow bunting (P. nivalis), sometimes called “snowflake,” as their flocks seem to swirl through the air and then settle on winter fields. The whitest North American songbird, McKay's bunting (P. hyperboreus), nests on the remote Bering Sea islands of St. Matthew and Hall.

      The most brightly coloured buntings belong to the New World genus Passerina in the subfamily Cardinalinae. They live in areas of dense bush, but the males perch in the open to sing their musical territorial songs. The bright blue male indigo bunting (P. cyanea) is a conspicuous bird along eastern American roadsides; the drab brown female hides among thickets and incubates the eggs. The painted bunting (P. ciris), native to the American Southeast, is sometimes called the “nonpareil” because of the male's unrivaled colouring—indigo head and neck, scarlet breast, and lemon back.

Sy Montgomery
 

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Bunting — can refer to:* Bunting (bird), a group of birds * An infant sleeping bag * The act of laying down a bunt, a type of offensive play in baseball * Bunting (textile), a lightweight cloth material often used for flags and festive decorations * Bye,… …   Wikipedia

  • Bunting — Bun ting, n. [Scot. buntlin, corn buntlin, OE. bunting, buntyle; of unknown origin.] (Zo[ o]l.) A bird of the genus {Emberiza}, or of an allied genus, related to the finches and sparrows (family {Fringillid[ae]}). [1913 Webster] Note: Among… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • BUNTING (B.) — BUNTING BASIL (1900 1990) Né avec le siècle dans le Yorkshire. L’itinéraire de Basil Bunting, inhabituel pour un poète britannique de son âge, le conduira successivement en Italie, aux côtés d’Ezra Pound, aux Canaries, aux États Unis, en Iran,… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Bünting — steht für: Bünting Gruppe, ein Handelsunternehmen in Leer/ Ostfriesland Bünting ist der Name folgender bekannter Personen: Heinrich Bünting (auch: Buntingus, Bunting, Pendingius, um 1545 1606), evangelischer Theologe und Chronist Karl Dieter… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • bunting — ‘bird’ [13] and bunting ‘flags’ [18] are presumably two distinct words, although in neither case do we really know where they come from. There was a now obsolete English adjective bunting, first recorded in the 16th century, which meant ‘plump,… …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • bunting — ‘bird’ [13] and bunting ‘flags’ [18] are presumably two distinct words, although in neither case do we really know where they come from. There was a now obsolete English adjective bunting, first recorded in the 16th century, which meant ‘plump,… …   Word origins

  • Bunting — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Heath Bunting (* 1966), englischer Medienkünstler Hem Bunting (* 1985), kambodschanischer Mittel und Langstreckenläufer Mary Bunting (1910–1998), US amerikanische Mikrobiologin, Universitätspräsidentin …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Bunting — Bun ting, Buntine Bun tine, n. [Prov. E. bunting sifting flour, OE. bonten to sift, hence prob. the material used for that purpose.] A thin woolen stuff, used chiefly for flags, colors, and ships signals. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • bunting — Ⅰ. bunting [1] ► NOUN ▪ a seed eating songbird of a large group typically with brown streaked plumage and a boldly marked head. ORIGIN of unknown origin. Ⅱ. bunting [2] ► NOUN ▪ flags and streamers used as festive decorations …   English terms dictionary

  • bunting — bunting1 [bun′tiŋ] n. [< ? ME bonting, ger. of bonten, to sift: hence, cloth used for sifting] 1. a thin cloth used in making flags, streamers, etc. 2. flags, or strips of cloth in the colors of the flag, used as holiday decorations ☆ 3. a… …   English World dictionary

  • Bünting AG — Die Bünting AG ist ein Handelsunternehmen in Nordwest Deutschland mit Sitz in Leer (Ostfriesland). Mit mehr als 7.500 Beschäftigten ist Bünting das größte ostfriesische Unternehmen und einer der wichtigsten Ausbildungsbetriebe in der Region.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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