YELLOW-BROWED BUNTING. 171 



arc twice or three times as large on the middle of the back, and 

 blackish in colour: these marks disappear gradually, and altogether 

 on the rump. The upper tail coverts rusty red. The upper tail 

 feathers uniform brownish grey. In my old male the back is rather 

 less red than in Pallas's feather. The same with the wings." 



The wings brownish black, with, on the outer web, clear narrow 

 yellowish grey edges: the three first of equal length, fourth a little 

 shorter; end of fifth nearer to point of tail than end of sixth to end 

 of fifth. Upper wing coverts bordered with greyish red or dull 

 white, particularly on the outer edge; the black middle coverts are 

 also white on their outer edge; lesser wing coverts yellowish grey, 

 like the ground colour of the feathers of the shoulders. Under wing 

 coverts clear white. Wing lining grey, lighter on the inner webs, 

 towards the shafts darker. First and second tail feathers distinguished 

 by the well-known white marking; on the outermost this extends to 

 over two thirds of the whole length, reckoned from the tip; in the 

 second this marking ends with the lower third of the feather, and 

 does not extend to the outer edge; the tail underneath is dull black, 

 and above brownish. 



The plumage of the old female varies from the old male in the 

 following points. The white of the crown of the head is broader, 

 and the feathers about it often tend to brownish; the middle of the 

 cheeks brownish grey instead of black, so that the black is only 

 observed as a bordering to the cheek markings. The plumage of the 

 back in the old females is of an intense reddish rusty brown, more 

 so than in the male; the same with the rump and upper tail coverts. 

 The longitudinal marks on the under side of the body become on 

 the breast and flanks broader and more brown. 



In the first year's plumage the colours are alike in both sexes. 

 The eye stripe has more breadth, behind especially, and goes more 

 forward to the nostrils, and almost unites itself at the eyebrow 

 with the same marking on the other side. The yellow is only a 

 sprinkling in the male on the fore part of the central white band 

 on the top of the head. The cheek stripe from the angle of 

 the mouth is brown, lighter in the middle, and gradually becomes 

 imperceptible, and is lighter in the female than in the male. The 

 white ear spot is less observed than in the old birds. The central 

 white band on the top of the head is broader in the young birds, 

 but strongly dotted with black, and on the sides black and brown 

 mixed. In the upper parts the brown of the feathers, as well as the 

 loam yellow of the edges make the plumage very observable. The 

 red brown borderings of the shoulder feathers, and the rusty yellow 



