Mr. H. Seebohm on the Ornitholoyy of Siberia. 337 



white edgings to the tail-feathers are narrow. They have 

 all striped under tail-coverts ; and all but two have streaked 

 rumps. 



I am inclined to think that L. exilipes is the same species 

 as L. linaria. I do not see that it is even a good variety. 

 So far as I can make out, the differences are only those of 

 age, sex, and season. If they must be separated, I think the 

 colour of the under tail-coverts is a better character to go 

 upon than that of the rump. Five birds, all males, have larger 

 bills than the rest. Four of these have streaked rumps and 

 under tail-coverts, the fifth is the slightly immature bird pre- 

 viously mentioned as having been shot on the 7th of April. 



I found these birds common as far north as I went, i. e. 

 lat. 



EMBERIZA PUSILLA, Pall. 



The arrival of birds in the Arctic regions is dependent, to 

 a large extent, upon the arrival of summer, which comes 

 suddenly with the breaking up of the ice on the river, and 

 the general melting of the snow. Last year, summer was 

 unusually late in Northern Asia. On the Arctic circle, in the 

 valley of the Yen-e-say', the ice on the river began to break 

 up on the 1st of June, and migratory birds arrived in great 

 numbers. On the 7th the Little Bunting arrived, in com- 

 pany with the Golden Plover and the Dark Thrush, nearly 

 in the middle of the spring migration. 



Before the snow, which was lying upon the ground to the 

 depth of five or six feet up to the 1st of June, had sufficiently 

 melted to make the forests penetrable, the Little Bunting was 

 extremely abundant, and its unobtrusive song was constantly 

 heard. On the 23rd of June I found the first nest. I was 

 on the south bank of the Koo-ray'-i-ka, and was scrambling 

 through the forest down the hill towards my boat, amongst 

 tangled underwood and fallen tree-trunks, rotten and moss- 

 grown, when a Little Bunting started up out of the grass at 

 my feet. It did not fly away, but flitted from branch to 

 branch within six feet of me. I knew at once that it must 

 have a nest ; and in a quarter of a minute I found it, half 



SER. IV. - VOL. II. 2 A 



