ACCENTOR. INSESSORES. ACCENTOR. 247 



ALPINE ACCENTOR 



ACCENTOR ALPINUS, Bechst. 

 PLATE D. FIG. 3. 



Accentor alpinus, Bechst. Naturg. Deut. 3. 700. No. 1. Temm. Man. 



d'Orn. 1. 248 Jardine and Selby's Illust. Orn. pL 68. 

 MotaciUa alpina, Gmel Syst. 1. 957. 



Sturnus moritanicus, Gmel. Syst. 1. 804 Lath. Ind. Orn. 1. 325. No. 11. 

 Sturnus collaris, Gmel. Syst. 1. 805. Lath. Ind. Orn. 1. 323, s>p. 5. 

 La Fauvette des Alpes, Buff. Ois. 5. 156. t. 10. 

 Collared Stare, Lath. Syn. 3. 8. 5. 

 Alpine Warbler, Lath. Syn. 4. 434. 25. 



I AM enabled to add the present species to the list of our 

 Fauna as an occasional visitant, from a specimen having been Occasional 

 killed in the garden of King's College, Cambridge, and which visitant 

 is now in the possession of the Rev. Dr THACKERY, the Pro- 

 vost, whose valuable collection of British birds it enriches ; 

 and it is through his courtesy, in accommodating me with the 

 loan of this individual, that I am enabled to present my 

 subscribers with a correct figure of a British-killed Alpine 

 Accentor. In form and general appearance, it resembles our 

 indigenous species, the Hedge- Accentor (Accentor modula- 

 ris), but exceeds it considerably in size, and differs in the 

 disposition and colours of its plumage. It is an inhabitant 

 of the mountainous regions of Europe, and particularly af- 

 fects those districts which are of an abrupt and rocky cha- 

 racter. Upon the Swiss Alps it is very common (as its 

 name implies), and may always be seen by travellers in the 

 environs of the Convent upon Mount St Bernard. In sum- Nest, &c. 

 mer it ascends to very elevated stations, where it breeds in 

 holes, and under ledges of the rocks, laying four or five eggs 

 of a fine greenish-blue colour. As winter advances, and the 

 snow begins to accumulate upon the rocky steeps, it descends 

 towards the valleys and middle regions of the mountains ; 

 where it subsists upon the seeds of alpine grasses and plants ; 

 which at this time constitute its principal support. In sum- 

 mer, however, in addition to its vegetable diet, it destroys 

 grasshoppers and other insects, and their larvae. 



