140 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



between 8th and 10th primaries, tips square. Tail slightly forked. 

 Bill rather broad at base tapering sharply to point, under mandible 

 as E. citrinella, upper thicker than under and rather wider, cutting 

 edges slightly overhanging. Nostrils bare. A few small rictal 

 bristles. Hind claw rather longer than hind toe and only slightly 

 curved, somewhat Lark-like. 



CHARACTERS AND ALLIED FORMS. C. I. coloratus (Kamtschatka) 

 is darker and more rufous on upper-parts, while C. I. alascensis 

 (Alaska) is decidedly paler than typical form. Long Lark-like 

 hind claw and comparatively thick upper mandible and chestnut 

 band on hind-neck of adults are distinguishing characters. 



FIELD -CHARACTERS. Found alike in the swampy hollows and 

 on the bare parts (where tussocky) of the high open " f jeld " in 

 summer. Flies up into air singing like a Sky-Lark. Call-note, 

 a soft mournful pipe, exactly like that of Golden Plover, but less 

 loud. Black head, chestnut nape and yellow bill of male are 

 easy means of identification. Female and juvenile look like 

 large, stout female Reed-Bunting, but are darker on the back 

 and have practically no white in the tail ; in adult females the 

 chestnut nape is also easily seen with glasses, but much less so 

 in juveniles. Generally found in this country in company with 

 Sky-Larks, or in mixed flocks of finches and buntings on stubbles 

 (N.F.T.). 



BREEDING-HABITS. Kests on ground in tussock or under dwarf 

 bush. Nest. Built of grasses and moss, lined finer bents, hair 

 and always some feathers. Eggs. 6, sometimes 5 or 7 ; ground 

 varying from greenish-grey to olive-brown, blotched and clouded 

 reddish -brown, streaked and spotted blackish. Average of 100 

 eggs, 20.67 X 14.96 mm. Breeding -season. Begins early June ; 

 two weeks later in high north. Incubation. Chiefly by hen, but 

 male also takes part. Period not exactly known. One brood. 



FOOD. Chiefly seeds of grasses and other plants ; in summer also 

 insects and larvae. 



DISTRIBUTION. Great Britain. Autumn passage-migrant, fairly 

 regular northern and western isles and east coast (probably much 

 overlooked) but varying greatly in numbers. Arriving mid-Sept. 

 to end Oct. (extremes Aug. 25 to Nov. 23) ; occasionally recorded 

 December. Very rarely observed in spring and exceptionally in 

 summer. Has occurred many English counties as vagrant. 

 Ireland. Four : Fastnet Rock (Cork), Oct. 16, 1887 ; Kilbarrack 

 (Dublin), Jan. 27, 1906, and Dec. 12, 1907 ; Killough (Down), 

 Jan., 1916. 



DISTRIBUTION. Abroad. Arctic and subarctic latitudes of the 

 Old and New Worlds ; in Europe common in Lapland, but south 

 of Arctic Circle only breeds at considerable elevations, such as 



