82 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



It is apt to be confused with the Reed- Bunting, which is 

 often called the Black-headed Bunting, but beside being a 

 larger bird its plumage is quite distinct. The black head of the 

 male is followed by a yellow and not white collar, and there 

 is no black on the throat and breast. The back is orange- 

 brown and the under parts deep yellow. The female is a lighter 

 yellowish brown with dark streaks on the head and back, and 

 except on her under tail-coverts the yellow of the male is replaced 

 by dull white. In winter the black on the head is almost hidden 

 beneath brown feather tips, and the yellow collar and under 

 parts are indistinct and dull, owing to similar buff edgings and 

 tips. Length, 6 8 ins. Wing, 375 ins. Tarsus, '8 in. 



Meadow -Bunting. Emheriza cia Linn. 



The Meadow-Bunting breeds in southern Europe as far north 

 as the valleys of the Somme and Rhine, and though usually 

 migrating south to Africa has found or lost its way to our 

 southern shores on three occasions, one bird being captured 

 alive. It is a reddish brown bunting with a lead-blue bill, and 

 slate crown, throat and cheeks, white eye-stripe and chin ; a 

 black line borders the crown, a second passes through the eye, 

 and a third runs downwards from the angle of the bill and, 

 encircling the cheek, joins the line through the eye. The 

 female has the black replaced by brown on the face, and her 

 slightly mottled throat is slate-grey. Length, 6*3 ins. Wing, 

 3*25 ins. Tarsus, 75 in. 



East Siberian Meadow-Bunting. Emheriza cioides 

 castaneiceps Moore. 



A single example of the East Siberian form of the Meadow- 

 Bunting, which is not known to have reached Europe on any 

 other occasion, was caught alive at Flamborough in 1886. 



