EMBERIZA.] AVES INSESSORES. 129 



exterior edges whitish : belly and under tail-coverts dusky white ; sides of 

 the breast, and flanks, spotted with black : bill bright lemon-yellow, tipped 

 with black: legs pitch-black. The female differs in having the chin 

 grayish, the black plumage of the head and breast edged with pale 

 brown and gray, and the chestnut feathers of the nape fringed with 

 white: the white band duller. (Egg.) Pale ochre-yellow, spotted with 

 brown. Faun. Bor. Amer. 



Of this species, which is a native of high northern latitudes, only four 

 individuals have hitherto occurred in this country : the first of these was 

 taken in Cambridgeshire ; the second in the neighbourhood of Brighton ; 

 the third near London, in Sept. 1828 ; the fourth near Preston in Lanca- 

 shire, in Oct. 1833. All the specimens were in immature plumage. 

 Habits said to resemble those of the Larks. Food principally seeds. 

 Nest composed externally of dry stems of grass, and lined with hair. 

 Eggs usually seven in number. 



85. E. nivalis, Linn. (Snow-Bunting.) Head, neck, 

 a large space on the wings, and all the under parts, white. 



E. nivalis, Temm. Man. d'Orn. torn. i. p. 319. Snow-Bunting, Mont. 

 Orn. Diet, and Supp. Selb. Illust. vol. i. p. 279. pi. 52. f.5. Bew. 

 Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 178. 



DIMENS. Entire length six inches eight lines: length of the bill (from 

 the forehead) four lines and a half, (from the gape) five lines and a half; 

 of the tarsus ten lines ; of the hind toe, claw included, eight lines ; of the 

 tail two inches eight lines ; from the carpus to the end of the wing four 

 inches four lines and a half: breadth, wings extended, twelve inches four 

 lines. 



DESCRIPT. (Male in Summer.) Head, neck, rump, wing-coverts, upper 

 half of the quills, and all the under parts, pure white : back, scapulars, 

 bastard wing, the lower portion of the quills, and the three secondaries 

 nearest the body, black : the three outer tail-feathers white, with a black 

 spot near the tip; the next with the upper portion of the outer web white; 

 the rest black : bill yellow, dusky at the tip : irides deep brown : feet 

 black. (Female, and male in Winter.) Head and neck white, but deeply 

 tinged on the occiput, nape, and ear-coverts, with brownish red ; feathers 

 on the back and scapulars, and three secondaries nearest the body, black, 

 all broadly edged and tipped with reddish ash : greater wing-coverts white, 

 stained with dusky towards the tips of the feathers : breast, rump, and 

 upper tail-coverts, tinged more or less deeply with brownish red : the 

 middle tail-feathers edged, chiefly towards their extremities, with red- 

 dish white : belly and abdomen white. (Young of the year.) Crown 

 of the head yellowish brown ; forehead, ear-coverts, and a transverse 

 band on the breast, deep reddish brown ; flanks the same, but paler ; 

 nape, throat, and fore part of the neck, cinereous, with a tinge of red- 

 dish; the feathers on the back, rump, and scapulars, dusky, with a 

 broad edging of yellowish red ; middle of the wing, and under parts, 

 whitish ; quills and middle tail-feathers dusky, edged with reddish ; the 

 three outer tail-feathers whitish, with a large black spot towards the tip : 

 bill yellowish : feet black. (Egg.) Pale reddish white, slightly speckled 

 and spotted with pale red and purple brown : long. diam. eleven lines ; 

 trans, diam. seven lines and a half. 



A regular winter visitant in the northern parts of the island, first 

 appearing about the middle of October; but very rare, and only of 

 .accidental occurrence, in the southern and midland counties. Breeds 



I 



