46 SECOND YAEKAND MISSION. 



85. Embeeiza luteola. 



Emberiza luteola^ Sparrm. Mus. Carls, fasc. iv. taf. 93 (1788); Dresser^ Ibis^ 1875^ p. 249; Scully 

 Str. F. iv. p. 167 ; Severtz. Ibis, 1883, p. 60; Homeyer & Tancre, MT. orn. Ver. Wien, 1883, p. 90; 

 Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xii. p. 506 (1888) ; id. Trans. Linn. Soc. (2) Zool. v. pt. 3, p. 80 (1889).' 



Emberiza brunneicepSj Severtz. Turkest. Jevotn. p. 64 (1873). 



Euspiza luteola (Sparrm.) ; Wardlaw Bamsay, Ibis, 1880, p. m ; Bidd. Ibis, 1881, p. 81 ; Scully, ibid, 

 p. 575; C. Swinh. Ibis, 1882, p. 114; Bidd. ibid. p. 282; Scully, J. A. S. Beng. Ivi. p. 85 (1887). 



Nos. 1703, 1735, 1757, S , 1759, 1761, 1764. Tarkand, May 16 to 21, 1874. 



Nos. 1785, 1787, 1788, s . South-west of IgMz Yar, May 18, 1874. 

 Nos. 1694, 1695, 6 S . Kizil, May 19, 1874. 

 No. 1837, $ . Kugiar, June 1, 1874. 



All birds in full breeding-plumage. 



Colonel Biddulpli writes : — '^ We never saw this Bunting during the winter or until May, 

 when, on our return from the Pamir, we emerged from the hills. We first saw it at Ighiz Yar, 

 and thenceforward noticed it in abundance everywhere in the plains and amongst cultivation. 

 It was breeding." 



Dr. Scully says : — " This species is a seasonal visitant to the plains of Eastern 

 Turkestan, arriving about the end of April and leaving in September. The birds were 

 numerous from the end of May to July near Yarkand. This Bunting breeds in May and 

 June." He gives a full description of the nest and eggs. 



On the 27th of May, Dr. Stoliczka writes in his ^ Diary ' : — " Near Yarkand Euspiza 

 luteola is building a nest in low bushes in open gardens." At Beshterek on the 31st of 

 May he observes : — "A man brought a nest w^hich he assured me was that of E. luteola, 

 called Sare kutsMajtsh. The nest was on or very near the ground ; made outside of very 

 coarse grass, inside lined with hair of horse and other animals. It is only about 1 inch deep 

 and about 2| inches in diameter; somewhat loosely constructed, like that of a Motacilla. 

 The eggs are whitish, dotted all over with brown, the dots most numerous round the thick 

 end." 



86. Emberiza houtijlana. 



Emberiza liortulana, L. ; Severtz. Turkest. Jevotn. p. 64 (1873) ; Dresser, Ibis, 1875, p. 248 ; Blanf. 

 East. Persia, ii. p. 259 (1876) ; Bidd. Ibis, 1881, p. 80; Scully, t. c. p. 574; Homeyer & Tancre, 

 MT. orn. Ver. Wien, 1883, p. 90 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xii. p. 530 (1888) ; id. Trans. Linn. 

 Soc. (2) Zool. V. pt. 3, p. 80 (1889). 



No. 1709. Yarkand, May 22, 1874. 



Dr. Scully notices the occurrence of the Ortolan Bunting in Gilgit during the time of 

 passage. He says that his specimen was inseparable from European examples, and the type 

 specimen of Emberiza shah in the Paris Museum was likewise considered by him to be 

 identical with ordinary E. hortulana. Eastern specimens, however, are always of a clearer 

 and brighter colour than the western ones, but I do not think there is sufficient difference on 

 which to found a subspecific distinction. 



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