EMBEEIZA. 167 



irregular mottled cap or zone, with dull, rather pale, somewhat 

 reddish or purplish brown. They have little or no gloss, and in 

 shape are more elongated and oval than those of E. straclieyi. 



In length the eggs vary from 0*76 to 0-9], and in breadth from 

 0-57 to 0-62. 



798. Emberiza stewarti, Blyth. The White-capped Bunting. 



Embeviza stewarti, BL, Jerd. B. Inch v., p. .374. 



Citi-inella stewarti {BL), Hume, Rough Draft N. Sf E. no. 718. 



I have never found a nest of the AVhite-capped Bunting, tliough 

 I have had its eggs sent me from both Busahir and Kooloo, and I 

 laiow that it also breeds in Cashmere and in the hills about 

 Murree. 



From this latter locality Colonel Marshall records that " the nest 

 is roughly made of roots and fibres, situated in a low bush near the 

 ground. The eggs, four in number, are dusky white, spotted and 

 blotched with different shades of black and grey. Size 0*8 by 0-6. 

 Breeds in the latter end of June, from 5000 to 7000 feet up." 



Dr. Stoliczka tells us that this species " is very common about 

 Chini and farther to the east (in the valley of the Sutlej), making 

 a nest of coarse grass near the ground in low bushes. I found 

 young birds about the middle of June." 



Captain Cock says : — " Of the White-capped Bunting I have 

 found nests and eggs on the hills between Cashmere and Murree, 

 and also in the station of Murree itself. 



" It breeds in June and July, and the nest is always placed, 

 according to my experience, by the side of some road or path, on 

 the upper bank, upon the ground, and tolerably well concealed by 

 overhanging grass. It is a rather deep cup, and usually contains 

 three eggs of a greyish colour, with vinous blotches and clots, 

 chiefly at the larger end." 



Major Wardlaw Hamsay says, writing of Afghanistan : — " This 

 Bunting began to breed towards the end of April ; and during the 

 months of May and June I found great numbers of their nests. 

 They were almost all situated under roots on sloping banks or 

 hillsides, and were composed entirely of dried grass. The eggs 

 were generally four in number, but I have found five. They vary 

 exceedingly, both in size and colour, in different nests — some 

 sittings being pale blue thickly spotted with purplish brown, and 

 with a few irregular Bunting-like blotches and dashes. In 

 another nest the eggs were much larger, and coloured greyish 

 white, profusely spotted and speckled with red-brown, and with 

 the usual blotches deep purplish brown. . . . One pair built their 

 nest within a few yards of my tent, which was on the outer edge 

 of our camp at Byan Klieyl, in the Hariab valley.'' 



The ground-colour of the eggs is white, mottled and clouded all 

 over with pale purple-grey or slaty-grey, for the purple tinge 

 in some eggs is hardly perceptible. Above the grey or purple 



