48 EMBERIZIDJ;. 



and a patch on the nape, bright gamboge-yellow, varied with 

 dusky streaks on the forehead and lores, behind the crown 

 and on the boundary of the ear-coverts ; mantle and sides 

 of the neck, olive tinged with orange ; upper part of the 

 back and wings dark brown, each feather broadly edged with 

 brownish-orange ; primaries dusky black, with narrow outer 

 edges of bright yellow; secondaries, tertials and wing-- 

 coverts, dusky black, broadly margined with rich chestnut- 

 brown ; upper tail-coverts chestnut, edged with yellow ; tail 

 dusky black, the middle quills broadly bordered with chest- 

 nut and the rest narrowly edged with yellow, the two outer 

 pairs (which are slightly shorter than those next to them) 

 having also an elongated white patch on the inner web ; the 

 chin and throat bright gamboge-yellow with an almost con- 

 tinuous line of dusky chestnut descending on each side from 

 the lower corner of the mandible ; breast and flanks clouded 

 and longitudinally streaked with chestnut, which on the 

 latter passes into dark brown ; the rest of the lower parts 

 bright gamboge-yellow, except the lower surface of the quills 

 which is grey : legs, toes and claws light brown. 



In winter the bright yellow, especially on the head, is 

 much obscured by dusky mottlings ; but at all times of the 

 year the males are subject to much variation in the brilliancy 

 and purity of their tints. In some examples the head is of 

 a straw or primrose colour, while in others, especially from 

 the south of Europe, the hue increases in intensity so as to 

 become almost orange. It has seemed to the Editor that 

 Dorsetshire specimens are more brightly coloured than any 

 others he has observed in the British Islands. 



The whole length of the bird is seven inches. From the 

 carpal joint to the end of the wing, three inches and a half ; 

 the second, third, fourth and fifth primaries nearly equal in 

 length, but the fourth rather the longest, while the sixth is 

 a quarter of an inch shorter than the fifth. 



The female is much less yellow than the male, and the 

 yellow is of a paler hue ; her head, throat and breast are 

 much more mottled, and her colours generally are much 

 less vivid. 



