EMBEEIZA. 203 



Coloration. Male. After the autumn moult the forehead, crown, 

 and nape are rich golden brown, the feathers tipped with ashy ; hind 

 neck and sides of neck olive-yellow; back, scapulars, and lesser 

 coverts olive-yellow streaked with brown ; rump yellow ; upper 

 tail-coverts olive-brown, margined with olive-yellow ; tail dark 

 brown, edged with fulvous ; middle and greater coverts and quills 

 dark brown, margined with fulvous ; lores, sides of the head, chin, 

 throat, and middle portion of breast chestnut, the feathers margined 

 with ashy ; sides of the breast and remainder of lower plumage 

 deep yellow. 



In spring the forehead, crown, and nape become deep golden 

 brown, and the lores, .sides of the head, chin, throat, and breast pure 

 chestnut. This change is caused by the abrasion of the ashy 

 margins on those parts. 



Occasionally the golden brown of the crown suffuses the entire 

 upper plumage. This occurs probably in very old males only. 



Female. The whole upper plumage ashy brown, the back and 

 scapulars streaked with dark brown and the rump tinged with olive- 

 yellow ; tail and wings as in the male ; lores pale ashy white ; 

 sides of the head and neck dark fulvous ; the whole lower plumage 

 pale fulvous, the abdomen washed with yellow, and the under tail- 

 coverts pure yellow. 



The young bird resembles the female, but has the whole upper 

 plumage, sides of the throat, and the whole breast thickly streaked 

 with brown. 



Iris dark brown ; legs and feet brown ; bill greyish brown 

 above, darkest on the culmen and greenish horn below (Butler). 



Length about 7 ; tail 2'8 ; wing 3*5 ; tarsus -8 ; bill from 

 gape "6. 



Distribution. A winter visitor to the plains of India from the 

 foot of the Himalayas down to the Nilgiris and from Sind to 

 Cliutia Nagpur. This species passes through Grilgit on migration 

 and breeds in Turkestan and Northern xlsia. It extends to 

 Afghanistan, Turkestan, and Persia *. 



Habits, Sfe. Not so commonly found in flocks, and not asso- 

 ciating in as large numbers as the last species, and less confined to 

 well-cultivated tracts. The nest and eggs are very similar to those 

 of E. melanoeephala, and have been taken in Eastern Turkestan by 

 Stoliczka and Scully in May and June, and by Wardlaw Ramsay in 

 the Hariab valley, Western Afghanistan. 



801. Emberiza rutila. The Chestnut Bunting. 



Emberiza rutila, Pall. Bets. Buss. Beiclis, iii, p. 098 (1770) ; Oates, 



B. B. i, p. 354 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xii ; p. 514. 

 Euspiza rutila (Ball.), Blanf. J. A. 8. B. xli, pt. ii, p. 108; Hume, 



( 'at. no. 722 bis ; id. S. F. xi, p. 282. 

 Citrinella rutila (Pall.), Hume, S. P\ iii, p. 157. 



* Dr. Scully (Ibis, 1881, p. 575) indicates an uuclescribed species of Bunting 

 allied to E. luteola. 



