Eggs. 



Breeding 

 Season. 



Measure- 

 ments. 



110 



and sometimes strips of vine bark, lined with fine roots, horsehair, etc. 

 External diameter about 4^ in., diameter of cup 21^ in., depth 14 in. 



4 — 5 in number, and very characteristic. Upon a greyish white or 

 pale buff ground, many irregular dark brown or blackish hair lines are 

 interwoven, and tend sometimes to form a zone. There are also a few 

 spots, and underlying pale grey hair lines and spots are visible. 



In Germany eggs have been taken early in April, but the usual time 

 appears to be the beginning of May. Chapman and Irby state that in 

 Spain the eggs are laid in April, but fresh eggs may be found till the end 

 of June; while in Greece Kriiper rarely found full clutches before mid 

 May, and obtained most eggs in the last days of May and in June (earliest 

 date, May 11; latest July 7), Tristram also found eggs in Lebanon towards 

 the end of June. Probably only one brood is reared as a rule in the 

 northern parts of its range. 



Average size of 86 eggs (25 by Bau, 14 by Rey, 4 by Reiser and 

 43 by the writer) 20.63X16.01 mm.. Max. 23.3 X 16.5 and 20.75 X 17.5 

 mm., Min. 19.5 X 15.5 and 20.2 X 15 mm. Average weight of 25 eggs, 

 152 mg. (Bau); of 14 eggs, 158 mg. (Rey). 



Geographical Races. 



a. European Rock Bunting, E. cia cia L. See above, 

 l). Eastern Rock Bunting, E. cia par Hart. 



E. cia par Hart. Hartert, Vog. Pal. Fauna, p. 184. 

 Breeding Range: N. Caucasus, E. Persia, Transcaspia, Turkestan, 

 Afghanistan and Beluchistan. 



Four eggs from Issik Kul are rather small, averaging 19.27 X 15.42 mm. 



Nest. 



Eggs. 



[East Siberian Meadow Bunting, Eniberiza cioides castaneiceps Moore. 



Emberiza cioides Brandt (part.). Dresser, Birds of Europe, IX, p. 223; id. 

 Man. Pal. Birds, p. 364; Saunders, Man., p. 215. E. cioides castaneiceps Moore. 

 Hartert, Vog. Pal. Fauna, p. 186. 



Breeding Range: E. Siberia (lower Amur and Ussuri valleys), Askold, 

 Manchuria, Corea, and China as far south as Foochow. Has been once obtained 

 in England. 



The nest, composed of twigs, leaves, grass and fern fronds, lined with fine 

 grass, fibres and hair, is usually placed in a small pine, not far from the ground 

 {Ibis 1905, p. 45). Some are compactly built, while others are carelessly constructed. 



4—5 in number, and fully described in the Ibis, 1900, p. 36. They have 

 a wreath of interlacing vandyke brown hair lines round the big end, with a few 

 pale grey underlying streaks and occasionally a yellowish cloud, upon a greyish 

 white ground. Two broods are reared in China, as fledged young have been 

 shot on May 24, while eggs have been taken as late as June 26 and young found 

 in July. Average size of 6 eggs in Brit. Mus., 19.63 x 15.23 mm. 



