206 



Ptil. Mem. similis ptilosi sestivse, sed obscurior et magis ochrascenti-fulva, plumis omnibus fulvescente 

 marginatis. 



c? hornot. similis feminse adultse, sed gutture et pectore superiore punctulis triquetris indistinctis brunneis 

 maculatis. 



Adult Male in breeding -plumage. Crown of the bead blue-grey, forming a vertical streak extending from 

 the base of the bill to the nape, and slightly widening out on the latter; sides of the crown black; a 

 very distinct whitish eyebrow ; a line extending from the lores to above the ear-coverts, and enclosing 

 the eye, black ; sides of the face and ear-coverts greyish white ; a black moustachial streak running 

 behind the latter ; throat and fore neck as well as the sides of the neck pale bluish grey ; back fulvous- 

 brown, washed with cinnamon on the scapulars, all the feathers very dark brown in the centre, giving 

 the appearance of longitudinal stripes; lower part of the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts clear 

 cinnamon ; wing- coverts brown, the least ones conspicuously washed with bluish grey, the median ones 

 tipped with white, forming a distinct alar bar, the greater coverts externally edged with pale brown, 

 shading off into white towards the tips, the innermost ones inclining to cinnamon on their outer edges ; 

 primary coverts paler brown ; quills brown, the primaries narrowly margined with whitish on their outer 

 web, the secondaries more broadly edged with cinnamon, especially the innermost ones ; tail dark 

 brown, the two middle feathers paler brown, the two outermost ones obliquely marked with white 

 towards the tip, this colour occupying the larger part of the external feather ; breast and belly 

 cinnamon, inclining to greyish white in the centre of the body ; under wing-coverts white ; bill dull 

 lead-colour; feet yellowish brown, the toes darker; iris dark brown. Total length 6-3 inches, 

 culmen 0'5, wing 3"1, tail 3"0, tarsus 05. 



Male in lointer plumage. As in other Buntings, the winter dress of the present bird makes it appear much 

 duller than in summer ; for all the feathers are edged with fulvous, which greatly obscures the general 

 colours of the plumage. The centre of the crown is brownish, and the facial features are not nearly so 

 distinct ; on the other hand, the edgings to the wings are much plainer, and the white bars on the 

 wing-coverts show with great distinctness. The lower mandible has a mixture of yellow. The summer 

 plumage is gained by the gradual wearing off of the fulvous edgings to the feathers ; and the period at 

 which the bird begins to assume the spring dress varies apparently in different countries. For instance, 

 at Blida, in Algeria, Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., procured an example on the loth of February, 1870, which 

 is in full livery, more complete than any obtained by Dresser in the same month near Barcelona. 



Female in breeding -plumage. By no means so bright as the male. The head is dull grey on the top, washed 

 with brown, and streaked all over with dark brown like the back ; the stripes on the side of the crown 

 and on the face are quite obscured ; the white edgings to the wing-coverts are not so plain ; the throat 

 is dull ashy, with scarcely any bluish shade ; and the under surface of the body is dull rusty fulvous. 

 Total length 6 inches, culmen - 5, wing 30, tail 2'8, tarsus - 85. 



Female in winter plumage. Much duller than in summer, and having, like the male, all the feathers edged 

 with fidvous. The head is brownish, with slight indications of the whitish eyebrow ; but the grey 

 crown, never very distinct in this sex, is in winter completely obscured, and becomes brownish like the 

 rest of the head. 



Nestlings. We have never seen the young in down of this species ; but the nestlings are figured in Bettoni's 

 great work on the birds of Lombardy, and are represented there as of a pale cafe-au-lait colour, with 

 dark brown spots on the head, and streaked on the breast with minute lines of the same colour. 



