LAPLAND BUNTING. 133 
them again until we had passed the limit of forest-growth. On migration 
they repeatedly perched in trees, and when disturbed generally sought 
refuge ina tree. Like the Shore-Lark and the Snow-Bunting, the Lapland 
Bunting occasionally hops; its flight is quick and powerful, but more 
undulating than that of the Snow-Bunting. In its song the Lapland 
Bunting reminds one both of the Snow-Bunting and the Tree-Pipit. The 
notes are not very loud, but are musical and are continued for some time ; 
and every now and then a curious note is introduced which sounds like 
cheng, the consonants, both at the beginning and the end, being pronounced 
gutturally, asin German. ‘This note is also frequently repeated alone, and 
is probably the note of endearment between the sexes. The song is 
generally heard when the bird is flying in the air, soaring like a Lark, and 
is continued until the bird alights on some grassy knoll or stunted bush, 
descending with outspread wings and tail. What I take to be the 
alarm-note of the bird is a plaintive but loud chee-up, often heard near its 
nest. The female has a song almost as rich as that of the male. The 
Lapland Bunting is not such a coast-bird as the Snow-Bunting, and 
seeks the swampiest ground it can find so long as there are dry tussocks of 
grass full of flowers where it can breed; if there are also a few stunted 
willows or birches upon which it can perch, so much the better. The nest 
is almost always placed in some hole in the side of one of the little mounds 
or tussocks which abound on the marshy parts of the tundra; it is com- 
posed of dry grass and roots, and profusely lined with feathers. The eggs 
of the Lapland Bunting are from four to six in number, and differ very 
much both in size and colour. They vary in ground-colour from pale grey 
to pale brown, more or less obscured by a profusion of underlying blotches 
and streaks, which vary in colour from yellowish brown to reddish brown : 
the overlying markings are generally much fewer, and are principally 
streaks mixed with a few blotches and spots of dark reddish brown. They 
vary in length from ‘87 to *75 inch, and in breadth from ‘68 to ‘57 inch. 
The only eggs with which they are likely to be confounded are those of the 
Tree-Pipit and Red-throated Pipit, neither of which use feathers in the 
lining of their nests. 
The adult male Lapland Bunting in breeding-plumage has the entire 
head, throat, and upper breast black, except a nearly white streak, which, 
beginning behind the eye and passing at the back of the ear-coverts, forms 
a white patch on the sides of the neck. A rich chestnut collar reaches 
from behind the head onto the upper back; the rest of the feathers of the 
upper parts, including the wing-coverts, innermost secondaries, and centre 
tail-feathers, are brownish black margined with white and buff ; the quills 
and tail-feathers are brown, with narrow pale margins, the two outer tail- 
feathers with more or less smoky white at the tip. The black on the upper 
breast extends onto the flanks; and the rest of the underparts is nearly 
