LAPLAND BUNTING. 493 



many were seen, though in smaller flocks, in the vicinity of 

 Fort Franklin, latitude 65^, in the beginning of May ; 

 and the crops of those that were then killed were filled 

 with the seeds of Arbutus alpina. They breed in moist 

 meadows on the shores of the Arctic Sea. The nest, 

 placed on a small hillock, among moss and stones, is com- 

 posed externally of the dry stems of grass, interwoven to 

 a considerable thickness, and lined very neatly and com- 

 pactly with deer's hair. The eggs, usually seven, are 

 pale ochre-yellow, spotted with brown." Sir James Ross, 

 in the Appendix quoted in the history of the Shore Lark, 

 says, the Lapland Bunting was " by no means numerous in 

 the higher northern latitudes. A nest with five eggs was 

 brought on board early in July, 1830." 



The adult male in spring and summer has the beak 

 yellow, with the point black ; irides hazel ; the lore, or 

 space between the base of the beak and the eye, the fore- 

 head, crown of the head, and occiput, velvet black, with a 

 collar of bright chestnut on the nape of the neck and 

 upper part of the back ; the feathers of the back, wings, 

 and upper tail-coverts, reddish brown at the edge, dark 

 brown at the centre ; the small wing-coverts edged with 

 white ; the greater coverts and tertials with a broad mar- 

 gin of red ; quill -feathers blackish brown, with narrow 

 light-coloured exterior margins ; the tail-feathers also 

 blackish brown, with reddish edges ; the two outer fea- 

 thers with a conical white spot at the end ; the tail forked ; 

 the chin, cheeks, ear-coverts, throat, and breast, velvet 

 black ; behind the eye, and surrounding the ear-coverts, a 

 streak of white which descends to the breast, bounding the 

 black on the throat and breast ; lower part of the breast, 

 the belly, and under tail-coverts, dull white ; sides of the 

 breast and flanks spotted with black ; legs, toes, and claws, 

 pitch black ; the hind claw almost straight. 



