STRANGERS OF THE AUTUMN. 203. 



British Islands, are the Lapland Bunting, the 

 Little Bunting, and the Rustic Bunting. The 

 first-named species breeds on the tundras of both 

 hemispheres, beyond the limits of forest growth, 

 the eastern hemisphere birds wintering in Mon- 

 golia and China ; so that individuals of this 

 species that breed as far west in Europe as 

 Norway, cross nearly four thousand miles of 

 country to reach their winter quarters ! The two 

 latter species are found breeding in high latitudes, 

 from Archangel to the Pacific ; but, like the 

 Lapland Bunting, even the European individuals 

 cross the two continents and winter in China ! 

 All these Buntings occasionally miss their way in 

 autumn, and wander south into Central Europe, 

 and accidentally stray perhaps by way of Heli- 

 goland to the British coasts. The Ortolan 

 Bunting is another species of this group which 

 strays here in autumn most likely from Scandi- 

 navia, when on their way to their winter quarters 

 in West Africa. The Black-headed Bunting has 

 visited us from Southern Europe. 



We now pass on to the Pipits and the Larks, 

 amongst which, some of the most interesting 

 strangers of the autumn will be found. The first 

 we have to notice is the Red-throated Pipit, a 

 bird that is very probably overlooked here in 

 autumn, as it is well known in Heligoland. It is 

 not a west European species at all, rather a 

 Siberian one, becoming rarer and more local this 

 side of the Urals, and wintering in north-east 

 Africa. Stragglers, however, pass down into West 



