THE YELLOW-BREASTED BUNTING. 119 



wing-coverts much as in female. The juvenile body-plumage and 

 wing-coverts, and apparently innermost secondaries, are moulted 

 in autumn but not rest of wings and tail. Summer. Moult as in 

 adult but fore-part of crown, ear-coverts, and throat never become 

 so black ; back of crown and rump not so uniform chestnut ; mantle 

 streaked brown and black, like female ; under-parts paler yellow 

 than adult, and breast-band narrower. 



First winter and summer. Female. Paler and less yellow on 

 under-parts than adult female, and breast finely streaked as in 

 juvenile. 



Measurements and structure. <$ wing 75-80 mm., tail 57-61, 

 tarsus 18-22, biU from skull 11-12 (12 measured). $ wing 71-75. 

 Primaries : 1st minute and hidden, 2nd to 4th usually equal and 

 longest, 5th 2-3 mm. shorter, 6th 6-10 shorter ; 3rd to 5th emargi- 

 iiated outer webs. Other structure as E. citrinella. 



Soft parts. Bill : upper mandible dark brown, lower pale 

 brown ; legs and feet pale brown ; iris dark brown. 



CHARACTERS AND ALLIED SPECIES. No subspecies recognized. Male 

 distinguished from all other British Buntings with yellow under- 

 parts by chestnut crown and breast-band and in summer black 

 ohm. Juvenile distinguished from E. citrinella by buffish-brown 

 rump, and from E. cirlus by white under wing-coverts and buffer, 

 not so yellow, and less streaked under tail-coverts. Female not 

 so streaked on breast as E. cirlus and E. citrinella, under wing- 

 coverts white and under tail-coverts buffer, not so yellow. Also 

 sixth primary not emarginated on outer web. 



FIELD-CHARACTERS. Compared with Yellow Bunting, darker crown, 

 white wing-bar in flight, plain yellow underneath (not streaked) 

 are distinctions in female. Males are very distinct by reason of 

 dark chestnut upper-parts and very conspicuous white wing-bar 

 in flight, apart from other characteristics (H. Lynes). 



BREEDING-HABITS. Nests in low bushes, on stumps, or sheltered 

 by coarse vegetation ; usually 2 or 3 ft. from ground. Nest. 

 Dead grasses, lined finer grass and few horsehairs. Eggs. 4-5, 

 rarely 6 ; ground-colour generally green, occasionally stone-colour 

 or olive, blotched and streaked with dark brown and ashy-grey 

 blotches as shell-marks. Average of 52 eggs, 20.53 X 15.05 mm. 

 Breeding-season. From beginning June to early July. Incubation. 

 Period not known. Both sexes incubate. One brood. 



FOOD. Small coleoptera, insect larvae ; also seeds, rice, vegetable 



matter. 



DISTRIBUTION. England. Three. Female, Cley (Norfolk) Sept. 



21, 1905 (Saunders, Bull. B.O.C., xvi, pp. 10-11). Female near 



Wells (Norfolk) Sept. 5, 1907 (F. G. Penrose, Brit. B., i, p. 263). 



Cley, Sept. 4, 1913 (E. C. Arnold, op. c., vn, p. 170). 



DISTRIBUTION. Abroad. North Russia and Siberia ; on migration 



