THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 379 



the upper tail-coverts are of a pure rich ferruginous, with only very 

 tine lighter coloured edges ; it is, however, especially the marking 

 of the upper portion and sides of the breast which at once allows 

 us to distinguish this species from all its congeners : all the feathers 

 of these parts have a median broad rich ferruginous streak, and 

 since the whole under surface of the bird is pure white, these 

 streaks are at once very noticeable even at some distance. In old 

 males the head in summer is of a deep shiny black, above and behind 

 the eye a broad stripe of pure white passes backwards, nearly meeting 

 a patch of the same colour on the nape. A male bird of this kind 

 is unquestionably the handsomest of all Old World Buntings. 



The measurements of fresh examples are as follows : — Total 

 length, 578 ins. (147 mm.) ; length of wing in repose, 3-07 ins. (78 

 mm.); length of tail, 2li2 ins. (.59 mm.): length of tail uncovered by 

 wings, 1'34 in. (34 m?«.). 



The eggs of this species, in regard to which doubts were enter- 

 tained for so long a time, appear at last to have been obtained by 

 Seebohm and Herr R. Tancre ; one of these stated to originate from 

 Siberia has been kindly lent me for description by the last-named 

 gentleman. One would hardly take it for a Bunting's egg, although 

 in its markings it bears some distant resemblance to the eggs of 

 E. melanocephala and E. luteola. It is -82 in. (21 7nm.) long, -07 in. 

 (17 mm.) broad, and of somewhat pointed shape. The ground is 

 a rather rich yellowish sea-green, with relatively large dark 

 oUvaceous grey patches. The whole egg is somewhat densely 

 sprinkled and dotted with olive-coloured spots, and has small and 

 moderately large irregular olive-coloured markings ; it most nearly 

 resembles fresh very bright green, and not densely spotted, eggs of 

 theGreat Reed Warbler {Sylvia {Acrocephalii^s) arundinacea) except 

 that in E. rustica the grey patches are much more pronounced, and 

 the olivaceous outer markings much more scanty than in the 

 present species. 



In Heligoland the Rustic Bunting is met with principally 

 on fields amongst vegetables ; I have, however, on two occasions 

 seen it perch on a willow-bush from ten to twelve feet high, a 

 fact which has never been observed here in the case of the Little 

 Bunting. Its call-note resembles that of the last-named species, 

 but is perhaps somewhat stronger. 



The breeding home of this species extends from the Archangel 

 district as far as Kamtschatka. 



