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about this bird, and could much more easily provide you with notes on some of our game-birds, 

 if you want any. This Bunting arrives here (near Archangel) about the 20th of April (O. S.) in 

 small flocks of about twenty individuals. It is usually met with in the thick bushy portions of 

 our woods, especially in spots which are clear of snow ; and when on the ground its colour assimi- 

 lates so closely with that of the soil that it is not easily observed. It is very local, being found 

 in numbers in some places, and wanting altogether in others. Being exceedingly shy and 

 wary, and frequenting the wet and densely bush-covered portions of the forest, it is most difficult 

 to procure, especially as it is restless and active in its movements, and is continually flitting from 

 tree to tree or hiding in the dense underbrush. So cautious is it that I have been about in the 

 woods for days without getting within range of one, and the last one I shot and sent to you I shot 

 at long range off the top of a high birch tree. So far as I can ascertain, it does not remain very 

 long with us, but leaves early." Messrs. Alston and Harvie-Brown observed it near Archangel ; 

 and Mr. Meves met with it in July near Selo, on the Onega river, his attention being attracted 

 by its sharp call-note, which he compares to that of the Redwing. In some localities he found 

 it, he adds, by no means rare. 



Mr. Sabanaeff informs me that in the Ural it is rare on the eastern slope in the Ekaterin- 

 burg district, but to the northward, and to some extent on the western slope, it is common. 

 Teplouhoff says that it nests on the banks of the Obva river, in the Perm Government. Bogdanoff 

 states that it is found in the Kazan Government ; but Sabanaeff did not meet with it in the 

 Jaroslaf Government. Dr. Severtzoff informs me that he had a specimen, which was sent to 

 Professor Rouiller, of Moscow, in May 1853, from the Kaluga Government, south-west of 

 Moscow, where it was shot on a meadow skirting the Oka river, and was either on passage or 

 possibly breeding. It is not recorded by Dr. Taczanowski from Poland ; and it is of very rare 

 occurrence in Germany. Mr. E. F. von Homeyer states (J. f. O. 1872, p. 309) that there is a 

 specimen in the Berlin Museum from Voigtland ; but Borggreve cites no instance of its occur- 

 rence in North Germany. It has, however, on several occasions, been obtained by Mr. Gatke 

 on Heligoland. 



It is stated by the French authors to occur in small numbers, at irregular intervals, in the 

 south of France, especially in Provence, always in the autumn ; and Baron J. W. von Miiller 

 states that immature specimens visit Provence almost regularly about the end of October. I may 

 also add that M. Adrien Lacroix says that he received a specimen on the 21st March 1869 from 

 near Rivesaltes, in the Pyrenees orientales. In Italy, as in France, it is only known as a rare 

 autumn visitant; and Count Salvadori remarks that he does not know of its occurrence beyond 

 the northern provinces and Liguria, where several specimens have been obtained from time to 

 time. It is stated to have occurred in Austria ; and the Bitter von Tschusi-Schmidhofen informs 

 me that there is a specimen in the Vienna Museum which is said to have been obtained in 

 Austria. I find no record of its occurrence in Turkey, though Temminck states that it has been 

 met with in the Crimea ; but I possess a young female obtained by Mr. Bobson at Buyukdere 

 in October, and sent to me by him as an immature Beed-Bunting. 



In Asia it has been met with as far east as Japan, whence I have received several specimens. 

 Dr. Severtzoff does not include it in his work on the fauna of Turkestan ; but he writes to me 

 that it is found there, though rarely, in winter, a few being seen every season in the gardens 



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