EMBERIZA 345 



Andhi chcrya, Hind. 



g ad. (India). Head and neck greyish white striped with white ; on 

 each side of the head three white stripes, the upper one forming a super- 

 cilium ; upper parts warm sandy brown with dark brown stripes ; quills 

 dark brown, edged with creamy sienna, the inner web sienna at the base ; 

 wing-coverts sienna with dull grey margins ; tail blackish brown edged 

 with sienna; throat and upper breast-feathers black with greyish 

 white margins ; rest of under parts pale buff ; under wing-coverts sienna ; 

 bill blackish brown the lower mandible yellowish ; legs pale yellow ; 

 iris brown. Culinen O4, wing 3'25, tail 2'45, tarsus 0'5 inch. The 

 female is paler and more obscure in colour, the dark stripes paler, those on 

 the breast almost obsolete. In the winter the feathers have grey margins, 

 making the markings more obscure. 



Hob. Palestine, Arabia, S. Persia, Baluchistan, Sind to 

 Etawah, the Punjab down to Cutch, and Saugor in the Central 

 Provinces of India ; is said to have occurred in N. Africa as far 

 west as Algeria. 



Inhabits bare, rocky hill-ranges where the vegetation is but 

 scant, even though more fertile ground may be quite near. In 

 general habits it is active, cheerful, and fearless. Its song is 

 poor in quality and feeble, and is uttered from any elevated 

 perch. Nidification (in India) is said to take place twice in 

 the year, in November and in July. The nest is placed on the 

 ground amongst the rocks, and is constructed of a few twigs, 

 grass-roots, and stems, rather loose in structure, and lined with 

 feathers. The eggs are pale greenish, bluish, or brownish white, 

 spotted and dotted with brown and a few pale purplish streaks 

 and blotches, and measure about 0*74 by 0'51. 



502. HOUSE-BUNTING. 

 EMBERIZA SAHARA. 



Emlerisa saharac, Levaill jr. Expl. Scient. de 1'Alg. Atlas, Ois. pi. ix. 

 bis. fig. 2 (1850) ; Dresser, ix. p. 219, pi. 682 ; (Sharpe), Cat. B. Br. 

 Mus. xii. p. 563. 



Fiseeough, Arabic ; Tabib, in Morocco. 



ad. (Algeria). Differs from E. striolata in having the dark stripes 

 on the head and neck finer and less clearly defined, the upper parts more 

 rufous and only indistinctly striped, the breast and under parts unstriped 

 and much more rufous, and the wings more rufous sienna in colour ; bill 

 yellowish, dark horn towards, the tip ; legs pale fleshy ; iris brown. 

 Culmen 0*45, wing 3'0, tail 2'6, tarsus 0'65 inch. The female differs in 

 having the upper parts duller and paler, the head and neck sandy grey, 

 and the stripes less clearly defined. 



