170 



breadth from 0-58 to 0-68 ; the average of fifty eggs is 0-83 nearly 

 by 0-63*. 



799. Emberiza melanocephala, Scop. The BlacJc-headed 

 Bunting. 



Euspiza melanocephala ( Gm.), Jerd. B. 2nd. ii, p. 378. 

 Euspiza simillirna, Bl., Hume, Rough Draft N. $ E. no. 721. 



I do not at all myself believe that this species breeds within our 

 limits; but it is 'still worth while drawing attention to what 

 Burgess says. 



He mentions that " the patel, or head-man, of the town of 

 Jintee, near the Kiver Bheema, in the Deccan, assured me that these 

 birds, or some of them, remain to breed in the thick babool-copses 

 that clothe the banks of the river near that town ; but I did not 

 observe the nests or eggs. I believe that the greater part migrate 

 much about the same time as the Eose-coloured Pastor " t. 



802. Emberiza striolata (Licht.). The Striolated Bunting. 



Fringillaria striolata (Licht.}, Hume, Rough Draft N. Sf E. no. 

 716 bis; id. Cat. no. 720 bis. 



The Striolated Bunting is a permanent resident of, and breeds 



* Emberiza buchanani, Blyth, has not yet been found breeding within strict 

 Indian limits ; but Lieut. H. E. Barnes makes the following note regarding its 

 habits in Afghanistan :" Is very common, appearing in the plains about 

 March ; but they retire to the hills in May, when / believe they breed, although 

 I have been unable to verify the fact. But the testes of the males and ovaries 

 of the females are much enlarged at this season. I found an empty nest at the 

 foot of a stunted bush, which I believe to belong to this species. 



" This was on the Khojak." 



t Of the nearly allied E. Zuteola, Sparrm., Mr. F. E. Blewitt records having 

 seen a pair in the neighbourhood of Jhansi on the 25th August, 1868. These, 

 however, may very probably have only just arrived. This Bunting certainly 

 breeds in Afghanistan. Major Wardlaw Eamsay says: "I cannot find any 

 account of the nidification of this Bunting, which breeds so plentifully in the 

 Hariab valley. The first nest found was on the 19th June, and I was somewhat 

 surprised that neither nest nor eggs were at all like those of other Buntings. 

 The nest in question was built in a small bush about 2| feet from the ground , 

 it was cup-shaped, and composed of dried grass, stalks of plants, shreds of 

 juniper-bark, and lined with a few goafs-hairs. It contained four eggs, of a 

 pale bluish-white colour, finely spotted with purplish stone-colour, the spots 

 becoming larger at the thicker end. The eggs not having arrived from India, 

 I cannot give their exact dimensions." 



And Dr. Scully, years ago, recorded the following note on the breeding 

 of E. luteola in Turkestan : " At least half-a-dozen nests of this species were 

 seen in May and June. The nest is usually placed either in small bushes about 

 a couple of feet above the ground, or touching the ground at the edges of corn- 

 fields and sheltered over by a small shrub. The nest is round, from 4-f> 

 to 5'5 inches in diameter, the side-wall about 1 inch thick, the bottom 1'5. 

 Externally it is made of coarse fibres, leaves, and twigs loosely put together; 

 but the egg-cavity is lined with fine fibres wound round and round, the eggs 

 commonly lying on a bottom-lining of horsehair." 



