THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



Family TURDID^. Genus Accentor. 



Sub-family ACCENTORIN^. 



ALPINE ACCENTOR. 



Accentor alpinus {Gnielin). 



(British : Very rare abnormal autumn migrant.) 



Double Brooded probably. Laying season May and July. 



Breeding area : South-western Palaearctic region. 

 The Alpine Accentor breeds in the mountains of Spain, 

 from the Sierra Nevada northwards to the Cantabrian 

 Chain and the Pyrenees. Eastwards it breeds through- 

 out the system of the Alps, the Apennines (including 

 Sardinia and Sicily), the Carpathians, the mountains of 

 Greece and Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Northern Persia, 

 and Turkestan, in which latter country, however, the 

 examples of this species show some affinity with Accentor 

 nipalensis. 



Breeding habits : As soon as the higher ranges 

 become sufficiently free from snow the Alpine Accentor 

 quits the lower valleys and returns to its breeding places. 

 These are the boulder-covered slopes and plateaux 

 clothed with grass and various alpine plants and flowers, 

 that form the zone of vegetation lying above the limits 

 of trees and below the line of perpetual snow. It seems 

 probable that the gregarious habits of this bird during 

 the winter are continued more or less through the 

 breeding season. In support of this it may be mentioned 

 that Count Wodzicki met with colonies of Alpine Ac- 

 centors on the mountains of Galizia containing as many 

 as forty pairs. This seems incredible, and one would 

 much like to hear further details or some confirmation 

 of the circumstance from an independent observer. The 

 nest of this species is invariably made upon the ground. 



