68 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 



no white eyebrow, Total length, 7 inches ; culmen, o'6 ; wing, 

 3*65 ; tail, 2-9 ; tarsus, 0*9. 



In winter all the bright colours are obscured by ashy mar- 

 gins to the feathers, the black head and chestnut back being 

 entirely hidden by these margins, which wear off in springtime. 



Adult Female. Differs from the male, and is much duller in 

 colour. The sides of the body are not streaked, the bill is 

 blackish (bluish-grey in life) ; rump with concealed chestnut 

 markings ; no black on the head ; under tail-coverts yellow ; 

 abdomen isabelline. Total length, 6 inches ; wing, 3-35. 



Range in Great Britain. A rare and accidental visitor. Has 

 occurred three times : near Brighton ; in Nottinghamshire; and 

 in Scotland, near Dunfermline. 



Range outside the British Islands. From Italy to Greece and 

 Turkey, eastward to Persia and the Caucasus, and wintering in 

 the Indian Peninsula. Its migration is therefore strictly east 

 and west. It arrives in South-eastern Europe at the end of 

 April, and leaves again at the end of July or the beginning of 

 August. 



Habits. According to Mr. Seebohm, who has studied the 

 habits of the bird in Greece and Asia Minor, it is a thorough 

 Bunting, and he gives some interesting notes on the species. 



Ifest. Placed in a small bush or on the ground ; a bulky 

 structure, very rough outside, but neatly finished inside. " The 

 main portion is constructed," writes Mr. Seebohm, "entirely 

 of the yellow dry stalks of various small flowering-plants, the 

 seed-capsules on which are the most prominent object and are 

 conjoined with the stiffness of the stalks, which prevents them 

 from bending easily ; this gives the nest a very slender and un- 

 finished look. The lining is of entirely different materials, 

 brown instead of yellow, and consists of dry grass, roots, and 

 slender stalks without any seed-capsules, with not unfrequently 

 a final addition of goat's-hair, or a few horse-hairs." 



Eggs. Four to six in number. Ground-colour very pale, 

 greenish-white, speckled with numerous dots of light brown, 

 with overlying spots of reddish-brown, these spots generally 

 distributed over the egg, but in some instances collecting at 

 the larger end. Axis, o'85-o'98 ; diam., 0*6-07. 



