LAPLAND BUNTING. 491 



quill-feathers of nearly equal length, and the longest in the wing. Legs 

 with the tarsi of moderate length; anterior toes divided, lateral toes equal 

 in length, hind toe strong, claw elongated, and nearly straight. 



THE LAPLAND BUNTING, though a native, as its name 

 imports, of the most northern parts of Europe, and even of 

 the Arctic Regions, has yet been taken on five different 

 occasions in this country. The first was obtained in the 

 London market, and was for some years in the possession 

 of N. A. Vigors, Esq., M.P., passing afterwards, with his 

 whole collection, by gift, to the Museum of the Zoological 

 Society. The second was taken on the downs near Brigh- 

 ton, and is in my own collection ; another has since been 

 taken in the same locality. The fourth was taken a few 

 miles north of London, and its capture made known by 

 Mr. Gould. The fifth, caught near Preston in Lanca- 

 shire, was selected from among a variety of other small 

 birds in Manchester market, and is now preserved in the 

 Manchester Museum. Each of these examples exhibited 

 the plumage of the least conspicuous bird in the back 

 ground of the plate here given. 



On the last day of September, 1844, a fine adult male 

 was caught in a net with some larks on the downs near 

 Brighton : this specimen I have seen in the possession of 

 Mr. William Borrer, jun. ; it is in the plumage of summer 

 as represented in the lower figure, but undergoing a slight 

 change from the advance of the season. 



Another bird was caught in a net near Norwich in 

 January, 1855. 



Systematic writers in ornithology at the present day ap- 

 pear to agree that the natural situation of the species of 

 the genus Plectrophanes of Meyer, is between the true 

 Larks and the true Buntings : with several characters by 

 which they are allied to the Buntings, the difference in 

 the structure of the wing, their straight hind claw, their 



