53. EMBERIZA. 529 



23. Emberiza cinerea. 



Emberiza cinerea, Strickl. P. Z. S. 1332, p. 99 ; Jard. Mem. Stride!. 



p. clxiii, pi. (1858) ; Gould, B. Asia, v. pi. 8 ( 1870) ; Kruper, 



J. f. O. 1875, p. 268; Dresser, B. Eur. iv. p. 159, pi. 207 (1877); 



Salv. Cat. Strickl. Coll. p. 235 (1882) ; Sharpe, Ibis, 1886, p. 497._ 

 Euspiza cinerea, Gray, Gen. B. ii. p. 377 (1844); Bp. Consp. i. 



p. 464 (1850); Gray, Hand-l. B. ii. p. 112, no. 7681 (1870). 

 Emberiza cineracea, Brehm, Voyelf. p. 114 (1855). 

 Spodiospina cinerea, Heuyl. Qrn. N.O.-Afr. i. p. 660 (1871). 



Adult male. General colour above light ashy brown, the mantle 

 and back streaked with blackish-brown centres to the feathers, the 

 lower back and rump uniform ashy brown ; upper tail-coverts 

 brown, edged with ashy ; lesser wing-coverts ashy grey, with dusky 

 brown bases : median and greater coverts dark brown, edged with 

 ashy brown, whitish at the ends, forming two narrow wing-bars ; 

 bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and quills dark brown, narrowly 

 fringed with ashy brown, the edges broader and more fulvescent on 

 the secondaries ; tail-feathers dark brown, edged with ashy brown, 

 the two outer ones with a large mark of white at the end of the 

 inner web ; crown of head dull yellowish olive, the lores and feathers 

 round the eye sulphur-yellow ; ear-coverts yellowish olive ; sides of 

 neck ashy grey, as also the hinder neck, forming an indistinct collar ; 

 cheeks and entire throat sulphur-yellow ; remainder of under sur- 

 face pale ashy grey, becoming lighter on the abdomen ; the vent 

 and under tail-coverts white ; thighs dark ashy ; axillaries and 

 under wing-coverts Avhite, with ashy-brown bases to the feathers ; 

 quills ashy below, paler ashy along the edge of the inner web. 

 Total length G - 2 inches, culmen - 5, wing 3-4, tail 2 - 4, tarsus - 75. 



Adult female. Differs from the male in having the head and 

 neck brown like the back, the former streaked in the same manner 

 as the mantle ; the hind neck and sides of neck uniform ashy brown ; 

 lores and feathers round the eye yellowish white ; ear-coverts ashy 

 brown, slightly tinged with yellow, and having a central patch of 

 pale yellowish white ; cheeks and throat pale sulphur-yellow, with 

 a few tiny streaks of dark brown along the malar line ; lower 

 throat and fore neck pale ashy brown, also narrowly streaked with 

 dark brown shaft-lines; centre of breast, abdomen, and under tail- 

 coverts dull white, the latter with pale brown centres ; sides of 

 body and flanks pale ashy brown. Total length 6'5 inches, culmen 

 0-45, wing 3*35, tail 2-6, tarsus 0-~5. (Mus. II. Seehohm.) 



Young male in first winter plumage, llescmbles the adult female, 

 but is rather more ashy brown above, the dark streaks on the head 

 and back very distinct ; wing-coverts and inner secondaries very 

 broadly margined with isabelline or pale sandy buff; no yellow on 

 the head or throat, the latter white, spotted with triangular marks 

 of dark brown extending on to the fore neck ; the flanks also longi- 

 tudinally streaked with dark brown. (Mus. H. Seebohm.) 



Young female. Only differs from the male in being less distinctly 

 spotted and streaked on the underparts. 



VOL. XII. 2 M 



