364 EMBERIZA 



like E. rustica, to prefer the damp portions of the forest. In 

 the summer it feeds chiefly on insects, but in the autumn and 

 winter on seeds. Its call- or alarm-note is a low tick, tick, tick, 

 and its song is varied and melodious, not unlike that of the 

 Redbreast. It breeds in N. Russia as far west as Onega, or 

 probably Archangel, and in Siberia, placing, its nest, which is 

 constructed of dry grass sometimes lined with hair, on the 

 ground amongst the grass and moss. The eggs 4 to 6 in 

 number are usually deposited in June, and are subject to 

 considerable variation, some resembling those of E. miliaria, 

 others those of E. scJiceniclus, E. spodocephala, and E. rustica, 

 but more brown in tinge. Those I have are pale grey with shell 

 blotches of pale violet-grey and surface-blotches and spots of 

 very dark grey, and measure about 0'74 by 0.55. 



524. SIBERIAN MEADOW-BUNTING. 

 EMBERIZA CIOIDES. 



Emberiza cwides, Brandt, Bull. Acad. Sci. St. Petersb. i. p. 363 (1843) ; 

 Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. xii. p. 542 ; Tacz. F. 0. Sib. 0. p. 579 ; 

 Tristram, Ibis. 1889, p. 293, pi. x. ; Dresser, ix. p. 223, pi. 683 ; 

 Lilford, iv. p. 32, pi. 17. 



ad. (Siberia). Crown, nape, and cheeks deep chestnut-red; super- 

 cilium and a short line below the eye white ; lores and a line on each 

 side of the throat below the chestnut, black ; upper parts foxy chestnut, 

 the back marked with black ; least wing-coverts bluish ash, the other 

 coverts, secondaries, and middle rectrices blackish brown, broadly margined 

 with chestnut-red ; primaries dark brown, narrowly margined with buffy 

 white ; the two outer tail-feathers mostly white ; throat white ; a broad 

 chestnut band across the breast ; rest of the under parts dull white, the 

 flanks pale reddish-chestnut ; bill plumbeous grey, paler below ; legs fleshy 

 brown ; iris dark brown. Culmen 0*45, wing 3'4, tail 3'2, tarsus 0'72 inch. 

 The female is duller and lacks the rich chestnut colour in the plumage, the 

 crown is reddish brown, striped with black, the lores are brownish white, 

 and the breast band is dull pale fox-red. 



Hob. Siberia east of the Ural, Turkestan, Manchuria, 

 Mongolia, Corea, and China, and has been once obtained in 

 England. 



Frequents the southern slopes of mountains and localities 

 which are but sparsely covered with trees and bushes, and 

 avoids the true forest. In the central portion of its range it 

 appears to be a resident but a large number pass south from 

 their northern breeding haunts. Nidification often commences 



