THE SINGING BIRDS. 295 



female will occasionally furnish a third brood. The young are hatched in about a fortnight, both 

 father and mother sharing the tedium of incubation, and tending them with the utmost care and 

 devotion until they are strong enough to seek their own food.. 



THE .SIBERIAN ACCENTOR. 

 The Siberian Accentor (Tharraleus montandius) is blackish brown upon the top of the head, 

 bridles, and region of the eye ; a broad yellowish white stripe passes over the eyebrow, and almost 

 encircles the head ; the nape is grey, and the back reddish brown, spotted with a deeper shade ; the 

 throat and lower tail-covers are whitish ; the region of the crop and the upper part of the breast are 

 deeply shaded with reddish yellow, and marked with crescent-shaped black spots ; the sides of the 

 breast are shaded with reddish yellow and reddish brown. The eye is pale yellowish brown, the 

 mandibles greyish black, the lower one lightest at the base, the foot is of a dirty yellowish white. 

 This species is from four inches and two-thirds to five inches and one-third long ; the wing measures 

 two inches and seven lines, and the tail about two inches and six lines. This beautiful bird inhabits 

 Siberia, and has been found in Hungary, Dalmatia, and Italy. 



THE ALPINE ACCENTOR. 



The Alpine Accentor [Accentor Alpinus) represents a group of birds in appearance very 

 closely resembling the Larks. Their beak is slightly curved and pointed, compressed at its sides, 

 narrow towards its extremity, and broader than it is high at the base ; the legs are stout, the toes thick, 

 and the claws much hooked, but blunt ; the wings, in which the third quill exceeds the rest in length, 

 are long ; the tail is short, and deeply incised ; the upper portion of the body is deep grey, spotted 

 with brown, the under side ash-grey, marked at trie sides with reddish brown ; the throat is white, 

 slightly spotted with brown ; the quills and tail-feathers are blackish brown, the latter spotted with 

 white ; the wings are ornamented with two white lines. Both sexes are alike in colour. The young 

 are grey, spotted with reddish yellow ; black on the back, and reddish yellow, chequered with light 

 and dark grey, on the under side ; the wing-feathers are brown, edged with rust-red, and the wings 

 enlivened by two reddish yellow stripes. The tail is brown, and also tipped with reddish yellow ; the 

 eye is light brown, the beak yellow at the base and black at the tip ; the foot is brown. This species 

 is seven inches long and eleven and three-quaTters broad ; the wing measures three inches and 

 three-quarters, and the tail two inches and three-quarters ; the female is half an inch shorter, and 

 three-quarters of an inch narrower than her mate. 



These birds inhabit all the lofty mountains of Central and Southern Europe and Southern Asia, 

 and are particularly numerous upon the Alps, where they are generally met with at an altitude of from 

 4,000 to 6,000 feet above the sea. They are also occasional visitors to the south of Great Britain. 

 In winter they usually descend to the plains and valleys in search of seeds, but return to their 

 favourite haunts as soon as the' snow has melted from the surface of the rocks ; they are then to be 

 seen running lightly or flying from one peak to another, as they pour out their clear, melodious song, 

 many notes of which will bear comparison with those of the Lark itself. Their disposition appears to 

 be somewhat capricious ; at one time they are all life and activity, at another perfectly quiescent. 

 Gloger explains this peculiarity by telling us that they are only brisk and lively while searching for 

 food, and that their change of demeanour is attributable to the process of digestion that is being 

 carried on as they sit erect and motionless often for a whole half hour at a time. While bopping on 

 the ground the Alpine Accentor carries its tail slightly elevated, sometimes so high as to be raised 

 above the wings. The flight of these birds is light' and rapid, and capable of being sustained for a 

 very considerable distance ; but, under ordinary circumstances, they keep near the ground, and only 



