oa ALPINE ACCENTOR. 



bution of this bird can with difficulty be traced, owing to a chain 

 of forms of questionable distinctness, leading, of course, to well- 

 segregated species in those highlands of Asia which form the head- 

 quarters of the Old- World genus Accentor. 



The nest, constructed towards the end of May, is placed on 

 the ground, among crevices of rocks, or under some small bush ; it 

 is round, compact, and somewhat shallow, the materials consisting 

 of dry grass-stems, with a slight lining of fine moss, and sometimes 

 a itw feathers of the Ptarmigan (Wilson). The eggs, 4-5, are of a 

 pale blue, like those of the other members of the genus : average 

 measurements -95 in. by -68 in. In summer it is to be found up to 

 the beginning of the snow line, and seldom below the altitude 

 of 4,000 feet : "while on the Tatra Mountains of Galizia, Count 

 Wodzicki met with breeding colonies of from twenty to forty pairs ; 

 a gregariousness unusual, although in autumn small flocks collect. 

 Beetles and other insects form the food of this bird in summer, 

 while m autumn it gets as fat as a Bunting on the seeds of Alpine 

 plants ; nor does it leave the mountains until the snow covers the 

 seeds, and forces it downwards to the villages and even to the coast. 

 It creeps about in the same sly way as our Hedge-Sparrow does ; 

 like that bird, it undoubtedly Jiops, and does not run, as some 

 writers have asserted ; nor does it duck its head and jerk up its tail 

 every time it utters its note, after the manner of the Chats. Mr. 

 Seebohm saw it at least fifty times without perceiving anything of 

 the habit alluded to, and the same is my own somewhat less exten- 

 sive experience. He describes the song as a rich liquid chick, ich, ich, 

 ich. The call-note is said to be a plaintive /;■/, /r/, tri. 



The adult has the head, nape, and ear-coverts greyish-brown 

 with darker streaks ; back rather browner, with broader streaks down 

 the centre of each feather; wing-coverts dark brown, tipped with 

 white spots, forming a double bar ; secondaries margined and tipped 

 with rufous ; primaries dark brown ; tail dark brown, with buffish- 

 white tips, which are larger on the inner webs and almost absent on 

 the central feathers ; chin and throat white, spotted with black ; 

 breast and centre of abdomen greyish-brown ; flanks mottled with 

 dark chestnut ; bill black above, yellowish at the base ; legs and feet 

 pinkish-yellow, in life. The sexes are alike in plumage. The young 

 have the feathers of the back edged with rufous ; the white patch on 

 the throat is entirely absent ; and the under parts are of a very dusky 

 yellowish-brown. Length 7-5 in.; wing to the tip of the 3rd and 

 longest primary 4'i in. ; the bastard primary being very minute. 



