332 URAGUS 



URAGUS, Keys and Bias., 1840. 



484. LOXG-TAILED RoSE-FlNCH. 

 URAGUS SIBIRICUS. 



Uragus sibiricux (Pall.), Reis. Russ. Reichs, ii. Anhang. p. 711 (1771) ; 

 David and Oust. Ois Chine, p. 357 ; Gould, B. of As, v. pi. 27 ; 

 Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. xii. p. 464 ; Dresser, ix. p. 205, pi. 678 ; 

 Tacz. F. 0. Sib. 0. p. 663 ; U. caudatus (Pall.), Zoogr. Ross. As. 

 ii. p. 10, Tab. 37 (1811); U. longicaudus (Temin.), Man. d'Orn. 

 i. p. 340 (1820) ; (Gould), B. of E. iii. pi. 205. 



, ad. (E. Siberia). Forehead ana lores rich rose-red, the rest of the 

 head silvery white, tinged with rose ; back rose-red striped with dark 

 brown, with silvery white margins ; rump and upper tail-coverts rosy red ; 

 quills blackish margined (more broadly on the secondaries) with white ; 

 wing-coverts blackish, broadly tipped with white ; the lesser coverts tinged 

 with rosy-red ; outer rectrices white, middle rectrices blackish, margined with 

 white ; underparts rosy red, the abdomen white, tinged with rose ; throat 

 and neck silvery white, tinged with rose, the feathers lanceolate ; under 

 tail-coverts pale rosy red ; bill horn-brown, paler below ; legs reddish 

 grey ; iris brown. Culrnen 0'38, wing 3-1, tail 3'6, tarsus 0'65 inch. Ii^ 

 the summer the male is more richly tinged with rosy red, and the margins 

 to the feathers are narrower. The female has the upper parts greyish 

 brown, striped with dark brown, the rump and upper tail coverts unstriped 

 and washed with rose, under parts brownish ash, nearly white on the 

 abdomen, the throat and breast striated, with blackish brown, the flanks 

 indistinctly striped and tinged with rose. 



Hob. Siberia from the Ural range to the Pacific; Turkestan,. 

 Mongolia, Manchuria, and N. China. 



Frequents the sunny bush-covered mountain-slopes and 

 bushes on the banks of rivers and streams, and is not a forest - 

 loving species. Its food consists of small seeds of various kinds 

 of plants. Throughout its range it is partly migratory, wander- 

 ing south in the autumn, and partly resident. Its alarm-note 

 is a low Jit, fit, fit, and its song, though low, is melodious and 

 prolonged. Its nest is usually placed in the fork of a bush, 

 near the main stem, and is constructed of bents and plant-fibres, 

 lined with bents, fur, horsehair, down, and feathers, and is neat 

 and artistic in shape. The eggs, 4 to 6 in number, are usually 

 deposited in May, and are rich blue, sparingly spotted, chiefly 

 at the larger end, with black, and vary in size from O67 by 0'55 

 to 0-77 by 0-55 inch. 



