THE LITTLE BUNTING. 13 1 



DESCRIPTION (Plate 5). Adult male. Winter. Centre of crown 

 and nape chestnut and sides black (forming two black stripes) 

 all much obscured by long buff fringes ; back of neck, rump, and 

 upper tail-coverts chestnut-brown, feathers with dark centres 

 and huffish edgings ; mantle and scapulars more broadly streaked 

 black and marked chestnut ; lores, stripe over and behind eye and 

 ear-coverts pinkish-chestnut ; chin and throat same tipped buff, 

 with broken black malar stripes ; small black patches behind and 

 under ear-coverts ; breast and flanks pale buff boldly streaked 

 black ; centre of belly and under tail-coverts buffish-white ; 

 axillaries white with dusky centres ; tail brown-black margined 

 brown, outer pair with large white wedge extending nearly to 

 base, penultimate pair with narrow white line on inner web along 

 shaft, rest narrowly fringed buffish on outer webs ; primaries 

 brown-black, inner webs fringed pale buff, outer webs fringed 

 pale brown ; secondaries same, but outer webs fringed chestnut- 

 brown and inner secondaries broadly margined same with outer 

 fringe of buff and black " tongue " about centre of outer web ; 

 greater coverts fringed and tipped rufous-buff ; median coverts 

 tipped pale buff ; lesser coverts buffish-brown. This plumage 

 is acquired by complete moult from July to Sept. Summer. A 

 moult confined to lores, line over eye, ear-coverts, chin and throat 

 takes place from February to April, new feathers of these parts 

 being rather deeper in colour. Abrasion of tips and fringes of 

 feathers makes centre of crown uniform chestnut with broad black 

 stripes on each side ; mantle more boldly streaked black and 

 marked chestnut ; under-parts whiter and black streaks bolder. 



Adult female. Winter. Like adult male but lores, eye-stripe 

 and ear-coverts paler, black stripes on sides of crown not so 

 pronounced, and chin and throat more yellowish-buff, occasionally 

 pinkish. Summer. Moult and abrasion as in male, after which 

 becomes very difficult to distinguish, but black stripes on sides of 

 crown are more broken with brown. 



Nestling. Specimens nearly feathered have long dark brown 

 tufts of down on occipital, humeral, ventral, and crural tracts. 



Juvenile. Upper-parts heavily streaked black, feathers of 

 sides of crown fringed chestnut, those of centre of crown and nape 

 pale buff, those of mantle yellowish-buff and chestnut, those of 

 rump browner-buff ; lores and ear-coverts chestnut-buff, latter 

 streaked black ; stripe over eye paler buff ; chin whitish-buff ; 

 throat, sides of neck and breast heavily streaked black, feathers 

 with pale buff or white edgings ; flanks buffish-white finely streaked ; 

 centre of belly and under tail-coverts same but unstreaked ; tail, 

 wings, and wing-coverts as adult. 



First winter. Male and female. Like adult female but lores 

 and eye-stripe pale buff with only slight chestnut tinge, and chin 

 and throat buffish-white. The juvenile body-plumage and wing- 

 coverts are moulted in July and Aug. but not primaiy-co verts, 



K2 



