LAPLAND BUNTING. 133 



them again until we had passed the limit of forest-growth. On migration 

 they repeatedly perched in trees, and when disturbed generally sought 

 refuge in a tree. Like the Shore-Lark and the Snow-Bunting, the Lapland 

 Bunting occasionally hops; its flight is quick and powerful, but more 

 undulating than that of the Snow-Bunting. In its song the Lapland 

 Bunting reminds one both of the Snow-Bunting and the Tree-Pipit. The 

 notes are not very loud, but are musical and are continued for some time ; 

 and every now and then a curious note is introduced which sounds like 

 cheng, the consonants, both at the beginning and the end, being pronounced 

 gutturally, as in German. This note is also frequently repeated alone, and 

 is probably the note of endearment between the sexes. The song is 

 generally heard when the bird is flying in the air, soaring like a Lark, and 

 is continued until the bird alights on some grassy knoll or stunted bush, 

 descending with outspread wings and tail. What I take to be the 

 alarm-note of the bird is a plaintive but loud chee-up, often heard near its 

 nest. The female has a song almost as rich as that of the male. The 

 Lapland Bunting is not such a coast-bird as the Snow-Bunting, and 

 seeks the swampiest ground it can find so long as there are dry tussocks of 

 grass full of flowers where it can breed ; if there are also a few stunted 

 willows or birches upon which it can perch, so much the better. The nest 

 is almost always placed in some hole in the side of one of the little mounds 

 or tussocks which abound on the marshy parts of the tundra ; it is com- 

 posed of dry grass and roots, and profusely lined with feathers. The eggs 

 of the Lapland Bunting are from four to six in number, and diff'er very 

 much both in size and colour. They vary in ground-colour from pale grey 

 to pale brown, more or less obscured by a profusion of underlying blotches 

 and streaks, which vary in colour from yellowish brown to reddish brown ; 

 the overlying markings are generally much fewer, and are principally 

 streaks mixed with a few blotches and spots of dark reddish brown. They 

 vary in length from "87 to '75 inch, and in breadth from -68 to "57 inch. 

 The only eggs with which they are likely to be confounded are those of the 

 Tree-Pipit and Red-throated Pipit, neither of which use feathers in the 

 lining of their nests. 



The adult male Lapland Bunting in breeding-plumage has the entire 

 head, throat, and upper breast black, except a nearly white streak, which, 

 beginning behind the eye and passing at the back of the ear-coverts, forms 

 a white patch on the sides of the neck. A rich chestnut collar reaches 

 from behind the head onto the upper back ; the rest of the feathers of the 

 upper parts, including the wing-coverts, innermost secondaries, and centre 

 tail-feathers, are brownish black margined with white and bufE ; the quills 

 and tail-feathers are brown, with narrow pale margins, the two outer tail- 

 feathers with more or less smoky white at the tip. The black on the upper 

 breast extends onto the flanks ; and the rest of the underparts is nearly 



