THE PINE-BUNTING. 113 



Food. — Chiefly vegetable : com, and seeds of weeds, wild-fruits, 

 etc. ; also insects (coleoptera, lepidoptera and larvae) and spiders. 



DiSTRrBTJTiON. — British Isles. — Resident. Common and generally 

 distributed, but does not nest in some O. Hebrides, now common 

 Orkneys, but seldom noticed Shetlands except on migration ; occurs 

 Fair Isle both passages, but chiefly autumn. 



^Migrations. — British Isles. — Flocks in winter, but little evidence 

 that our breeding-birds emigrate. Immigrants from north appear 

 east coasts Great Britain in Oct. and Nov. and return in spring. 



Distribution. — Abroad. — Europe generally from about lat. 65^*^ 

 to 70° N., but in south Spain and south Italy only in winter, and 

 absent from Greece. Replaced b}' allied forms in Siberia and east 

 Europe. Local races require further study (see Gea^ler. Oru. 

 Jahrb., 1912, pp. 88-92). 



EMBERIZA LEUCOCEPHALA 



44. Emberiza leucocephala S. G. Gm.— THE PINE-BUNTING. 



Embkriza ueucocephalos S. G. Gmelin, Nov. Comm. Acsid. Sci. Imp. 

 Petropol., XV, p. 480, pi. 23, fig. 3 (1771— Astrakhan). 

 Eniberiza leucocephala W. Eagle Clarke, Scot. Nat., 1912, p. 8 ; c/. Brit. B , 

 V, p. 239. 



Description (Plate 5). — Adult male. Winter. — Fore-head and sides 

 of cro^\^^ black, much obscured by buffish-brown fringes and tips ; 

 centre of crown white, more or less obscured by broA^ai and black tips ; 

 back of neck almost uniform g^eyish-b^o^^^l : mantle and scapulars 

 streaked black \\ith chestnut markings and yellowish-bro\Mi edgings ; 

 rump chestnut tipped buff ; upper tail-coverts same but Mith Avhite 

 tips and black shaft-lines ; narrow line imder eye and . in centre 

 of lores buffish-white ; ear-coverts same margined at base of neck 

 witli line of blackish-brown ; lores and continuing in broad stripe 

 roimd and behind eyes to base of neck, chin, and upper-tliroat 

 extending to sides of neck chestnut, more or less obscured by tips of 

 buff with small black spots ; below chestnut of tliroat white band.* 

 obscured b}' similar tips ; upper-breast cliestnut with long buffisJi- 

 white tips ; flanks same, but streaked black mesially ; centre of 

 breast, belty, and vent pure white ; under tail-coverts white 

 with dark bro\Mi shaft-streaks ; axillaries white with dusky 

 centres and often with slight yellowish tinge ; tail brown-black, 

 central pair fringed chestnut-brown, outer pair with some 

 white on outer web and large A\'hitc A\'edge covering most 

 of inner ^^-eb, penultimate pair with smaller white wedge on 

 distal half of inner web ; pruuaries and secondaries black- 



* Exceptionallj'^ throat is white or yellowish-white, and centre of crown 

 tinged pale yellow. This species appears to hybridize with E. citrinella in 

 west Siberia {Journ. f. Oni.. 1903, p. 145, pi. vii). 



I 



