EMBERIZA.] AVES INSESSORES. 131 



feathers broadly edged with rufous; the two outer ones on each side 

 obliquely marked with white towards their extremities, the shafts and 

 tips black: bill black; feet dusky. In Winter the black feathers on 

 the head, throat, and breast, are edged with reddish brown. (Female.) 

 Crown of the head reddish, with dusky spots : above the eye a pale streak 

 of yellowish brown : throat whitish, bordered on each side by a black 

 line : breast and flanks tinged with reddish, and spotted with dusky : 

 nape and sides of the neck brownish ash: the rest much as in the 

 male bird. The young of both sexes are very similar to the adult 

 female. (Egg.) Purple white ground, sparingly streaked with dark 

 purple brown: long. diam. nine lines and a half; trans, diam. seven 

 lines. 



Common in marshy districts, and by the sides of rivers, in most parts 

 of the kingdom. Feeds on the seeds of aquatic plants, and occasionally 

 on aquatic insects. Song simple and inharmonious. Nest generally 

 placed on the ground, and concealed amongst rushes; constructed of 

 stalks, and other dry vegetable substances, and lined with fine grass, 

 and a scanty supply of long hairs. Eggs four or five in number ; incu- 

 bation commencing about the first week in May. Occasionally a second 

 brood in July. 



88. E. Citrinella, Linn. (Yellow Bunting.) Head, 

 neck, and upper part of the breast, yellow : back and 

 scapulars reddish brown, with darker spots. 



E. Citrinella, Temm. Man. d"0rn. torn. i. p. 304. Yellow Bunting, 

 Mont. Orn. Diet. Selb. Illust. vol. i. p. 288. pi. 52. f. 2. Bew. 

 Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 172. 



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

 the forehead) five lines, (from the gape) seven lines ; of the tarsus nine 

 lines and a half; of the tail two inches eleven lines ; from the carpus to 

 the end of the wing three inches three lines : breadth, wings extended, 

 ten inches three lines. 



DESCRIPT. (Male.) Head, cheeks, fore part of the neck, abdomen, 

 and under tail-coverts, gamboge-yellow : breast and sides streaked with 

 brownish orange : back and scapulars reddish brown, tinged with olive, 

 with a dusky spot in the centre of each feather ; rump bright chestnut, 

 the feathers edged with grayish white: tail dusky; the two outer feathers 

 with a large white conical spot on their inner webs : feet yellowish brown. 

 (Female.) The yellow colours much less vivid; that on the head, neck, 

 and throat, marked with olivaceous brown spots ; the under parts more 

 clouded and streaked than in the male bird. (Egg.) Pale purplish white, 

 streaked and speckled with dark red brown : long. diam. ten lines and a 

 half; trans, diam. eight lines. 



Abundant, and generally distributed. Feeds principally on grain. Song 

 scarcely more varied than that of the last species ; heard from the first 

 week in February to the beginning or middle of August. Nest placed on 

 or near the ground ; composed of straw and dried herbage, and lined with 

 fine grass and long hair. Eggs three to five in number. Breeds late ; 

 incubation seldom commencing before the beginning or middle of May. 

 Young fledged about the second week in June. Congregates in Winter. 



89. E. Cirlus, Linn. (Cirl Bunting.) Head and nape 

 olivaceous green, with dusky spots : throat, and a narrow 

 band across the eye, black : a yellow gorget on the neck. 



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