416 



PERCHING BIRDS. 



Allied Genera. 



neck and chest delicate bluish grey ; and the rest of the under-parts russet-red. 

 The female has the head, nape, and body varied with black and russet ; the rump 

 and under tail-coverts bright russet ; the front of the neck and chest shaded with 

 dull grey and spotted with brown ; and the flanks of a deeper russet, and more or 

 less spotted with brown. 



There are several genera more or less closely allied to the true 

 buntings, which can only be incidentally alluded to here. Among 

 these, the crested bunting (Melophus melanicteris), of the Himalaya, Upper India, 

 Burma, and China, is the only representative of a genus characterised by the 

 presence of a crest on the head, which is larger in the male than in the female. 

 The tail is less forked than in the true buntings ; and the sexes differ in coloration, 

 although both display a considerable amount of red on the wings and tail. This 

 bunting is solitary in its habits, and generally found on rocky hills and the banks 

 of streams. The American bunting (Euspiza americand) represents a second 

 genus, and the Cape bunting (Fringillaria capensis) a third, in which there are 

 several species. The sparrow-bunting (Zonotrichia albicollis), belonging to a 

 group of genera in which the tail is longer than the wing, differs from the true, 

 buntings by the exposed nostrils, which are protected by an operculum; and is 

 especially characterised by the spotted back and sparrow-like form. The genus, 

 which includes numerous species, is exclusively American. 



H. A. MACPHEESOK 



