BUCANETES 331 



483. MONGOLIAN DESERT BULLFINCH. 

 BUCANETES MONGOLICUS. 



Bucanetes moiigolicus (Swinhoe), P.Z.S. 1870, p. 447 ; (David and Oust.) 

 Ois. Chine, p. 349, pi. 97 ; Dresser, ix. p. 197, pi. 676 ; Sharpe, 

 Cat. B. Br. Mus. xii. p. 287 ; (Gates), F. Brit. Ind. Birds, ii. 

 p. 222; " B. incarnatus Severtz." ; Dode, P.Z.S. 1871, p. 480; 

 Gould, B. of As. v. pi. 30. 



Tagh-Timochuk, Turki; Che-chao, Sseu-ckeung, Chinese. 



ad. (Turkestan). Upper parts pale hair-brown, dorsal feathers 

 centrally darker ; rump and upper tail-coverts rose-red ; quills dark brown, 

 externally margined with rosy white, the secondaries broadly margined and 

 tipped with white ; larger and median wing-coverts broadly margined with 

 buffy white and rose-red; tectrices dark brown, margined with buffy 

 white ; under parts buffy white, washed with bright rose-red ; bill yellowish 

 brown ; legs light brown ; iris dark brown. Culmen 0'45, wing 3'5, 

 tail 2*25, tarsus 0*7 inch. The female is duller, and less rose-tinted. The 

 young male resembles the adult female, but has the larger wing-coverts 

 brownish, red, without white margins, and the median coverts with very 

 narrow white margins. The young female has scarcely any red in the 

 plumage, the breast only being faintly tinged with rose. 



Hob. Transcaspia, Afghanistan, Turkestan, and the Himalayas 

 to N.E. Kan-su and N.W. China. 



Like the preceding species it frequents sandy plateaus, clayey 

 hills, and stony places, and is chiefly resident, though in some 

 parts to some extent migratory, and feeds on small seeds of 

 various kinds, frequently those of saline plants. Its usual note 

 resembles the syllables tuck, tuck, tuck, and its song is sweet and 

 melodious, owing to which it is a favourite cage-bird. On the 

 ground it runs swiftly and with ease, and its flight is swift and 

 strong. It breeds in May, and its nest, which is placed on the 

 ground, in a bush or a tree, is constructed of dry plant- stems, 

 lined with goat's hair. The eggs are greenish white, marked at 

 the larger end with a few blackish spots and lines, and measure 

 from 0-82 to 0'86 by 0'54 to 0'58. 



