THE YELLOW-BREASTED BUNTING. 117 



Characters and allied species. — No subspecies recognized. 

 Unstreaked under -parts, yello^^■ under tail-coverts and want of 

 white in tail distinguish it at all ages from all other British 

 Buntings. 



Field-characters. — ^Large size and entirely uniform yellow 

 or yellowish under-parts make it distmct from other Buntings 

 (H. Lynes). 



Breeding-habits. — Breeds in bushes, sometimes among standing 

 peas, or in vineyards, a few feet from groimd. Nest. — ^Roughly 

 built of dead plants, thistle-leaves, and grass, lined fine grasses 

 and hair. Eggs. — 4-5, rarely 6, once 7 ; ground-colour light 

 greenish-blue, spotted evenly with bro\^Ti and violet shell- 

 marks ; occasionally unmarked or with dark blotches. Average 

 of 100 eggs, 22.4 X 16 mm. Breeding-season. — ^From mid-May 

 to end June. Incubation. — Lasts 14 days ; by both sexes. One 

 brood. 



Food. — Seeds of cultivated plants and weeds ; also insects. 



Distribution. — Great Britain. — Six England, three Scotland. 

 Female near Brighton (Sussex) about Nov. 3, 1888. Male, Notts., 

 June or July, 1884. Male near Dunfermline (Fife) Nov. 5, 1886. 

 Female, Bexhill (Sussex) Nov. 3, 1894 (Saunders, p. 205). Male, 

 Little Common (Sussex) April 21, 1905 {Zool, 1905, p. 267). 

 Female, Fair Isle, Sept. 21, 1907 {Ami. S.N.H., 1908, p. 76). 

 Male near Westfield (Sussex) May 5, 1909 {Brit. B., m, p. 412). 

 Young male, Fair Isle, Aug. 25, 1910 {Studies in Bird Migration, 

 U, p. 113). Male, Battle (Sussex), April, 1912 {Bull. B.O.C., xxxiii, 

 pp. 133-4). [Male recorded from near Halifax (Yorks,), Dec, 1910 

 not authentic] 



Distribution. — Abroad. — South-east Europe, Crete, Cyprus, and 

 Asia Minor to Palestine, Persia, and Baluchistan, occasionally \^est 

 to Italy ; casual visitor to south Germany, Austria, SAvitzerland, 

 south France, Heligoland, Malta. In winter in north-west India. 



EMBERIZA AUREOLA 



46. Emberiza aureola Pall.— THE YELLOW-BREASTED 



BUNTING. 



Emberiza Aureola Pallas, Reise d. versch. Prov. d. Russ. Reiclis, 

 II, p. 711 (1773— River Irtish in Siberia). 



Emberiza aureola Pallas, Saunders, Bull. B.O.C., xvi, p. 10 ; id., Brit. B., 

 I, p. 13. 



Description (Plate 5). — Adult male. Winter. — Whole upper-parts 

 dark pink-chestnut, partly concealed by bufiish tips of feathers ; 

 scapulars and mantle with inconspicuous mesial black marks ; 

 upper tail-coverts browner, not so chestnut as rest of upper-parts ; 



