THE ORTOLAN BUNTING. 123 



and upper-breast greyer, less green, some specimens being much 

 greyer than others. 



Adult female. Winter and summer. Like adult male but 

 crown and sides of head tinged brownish ; throat more huffish-yellow ; 

 upper-breast less green and with dark spots or small streaks. 



Nestling. (Not examined.) 



Juvenile. Whole upper-parts streaked brown-black, feathers 

 margined buff or brownish-buff ; throat and sides of head whitish- 

 buff, rather sparsely streaked black-brown ; breast darker and 

 more heavily streaked ; flanks same but with fine streaks ; middle 

 of breast, belly, and under tail-coverts almost uniform rufous-buff ; 

 tail and wings like adult but tips of wing-coverts paler and divided 

 centrally by black -brown. 



First winter and summer. Male. Much like adult female but 

 crown rather browner, with fine shaft-streaks ; throat paler and 

 less yellow, with few dark spots ; upper-breast greyer, with more 

 decided dark streaks. The juvenile body-plumage, wing-coverts 

 and inner secondaries are moulted in Sept.-Oct., but not tail and 

 rest of wing-feathers. Female. Resembling first-winter male 

 but crown brown and streaked as mantle, breast buffer and more 

 heavily streaked and a few small streaks on flanks. 



Measurements and structure. <$ wing 85-92 mm., tail 64-71, 

 tarsus 19-21.5, bill from skull 10-11.5 (12 measured). ? wing 80-88. 

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

 longest, 5th 3-6 mm. shorter, 6th 10-14 shorter; 3rd to 5th 

 emarginated outer webs. Other structure as in E. citrinella. 



Soft parts. Bill, legs, and feet brownish-red ; iris brown. 



CHARACTERS AND ALLIED SPECIES. No subspecies recognized. 

 Brown, not chestnut, rump distinguishes it in all stages from E. cia 

 and E. cioides, and chestnut or rufous-buff abdomen from all other 

 British Buntings. E. buchanani (Persia, India, Turkestan) is very 

 similar, but never with yellow on throat, and always greyer on 

 crown and mantle. 



FIELD -CHARACTERS. Adults of both sexes readily recognized by 

 their being rather light rufous underneath below the grey and 

 yellow -green chest, not to mention the very small red bill and light 

 yellowish-coloured " spectacle " round eye. In younger birds 

 these are all characters which should be looked for, but it must 

 be borne in mind that all the colours are duller, less distinctive 

 (H. Lynes). 



BREEDING-HABITS. Breeds sometimes in corn- or rye-fields, or 

 in ground overgrown with Artemisia and other weeds, on ground 

 or near it, in growing vegetation. Nest. Dead grasses, root?, 

 etc., lined fine roots and hair. Eggs. 4-6 ; ground-colour bluish - 

 white to pinkish or reddish-grey, with round spots and few streaks 

 blackish-brown ; exceptionally very lightly marked. Average of 



