212 



sandy grey washed with yellow, which latter colour is more pronounced on the abdomen ; under tail- 

 coverts pale yellow. Culmen 0'55 inch, wing 3 - 3, tail 2'65, tarsus 0'85. 



Obs. In the winter plumage the brighter colours worn in the summer are obscured by ashy margins to the 

 feathers, and the underparts generally are washed with ashy grey. A male from Turkestan, shot in 

 July, has the crown dull yellow, striped with blackish, and the chestnut on the throat is dull and 

 obscured by yellow, the underparts being slightly washed with grey. According to Dr. Sharpe, the 

 young in winter plumage is "brown like the adult female, but much more rufescent, and nearly 

 uniform above, only a few half-concealed black streaks being visible on the back ; ear-coverts and sides 

 of face pale rufous brown, as also the edgings of the wing-coverts and secondaries ; under surface of 

 body pale isabelline ; the lower throat, breast, and sides of body pale sandy rufous, with a tinge of 

 yellow on the flanks and under tail-coverts." 



During the summer season this Bunting inhabits Transcaspia, Turkestan, and Afghanistan, and 

 winters in the plains of India. It has been met with as a straggler as far west as Heligoland, 

 and has been recorded as occurring as far north as Siberia, and as far south as the Persian Gulf. 

 According to Gatke, two old males have been obtained in Heligoland — one on the 20th June, 

 1860, and another in September several years later. 



Professor Menzbier informs me that in the summer of 1889 this Bunting was found breeding 

 and common near the Mugodjary Mountains. 



In Transcaspia, according to Mr. Zarudny (Bull. Soc. Mosc. iii. p. 803), it was " tolerably 

 common in the Merv and Pinde oases, between the 27th April and 4th May, and I observed a 



considerable number on passage on the plain of Teke The favourite resorts of this bird 



are the valleys of the rivers, which are thinly covered with isolated bushes and where the grass 

 is abundant. In the Merv and Pinde oases it frequents the bushes growing here and there in 

 the fields between the ditches, and it also affects cultivated fields. On the 23rd June, at Bayram 

 Ali Khan, I saw fully fledged young." 



According to Dr. Aitchison it is common over the Badghis, on the Afghan frontier; and 

 Major Wardlaw Bamsay records it (Ibis, 1880, p. 66) as being exceedingly common in Afghanistan, 

 and breeding plentifully in the Hariab Valley. Lieut. H. E. Barnes also found it extremely 

 common in March and April near Chaman, S. Afghanistan. It is not included by Mr. Blanford 

 in his list of the birds inhabiting Persia, but may possibly occur there, as Mr. W. D. Cumming 

 procured an immature specimen at Fao, in the Persian Gulf, in September 1884, which is now 

 in the British Museum. In Turkestan it is said to be common. According to Dr. Severtzoff it 

 breeds there ; and Mr. Pleske says that Russoff sent examples from Kschtul and Tschinas, and 

 found it numerous on the Golodnaja steppe. 



Mr. Scully, who met with it in Eastern Turkestan, says (E. Turkestan, p. 127) that "it 

 is a seasonal visitor to the plains, arriving about the end of April and leaving in September. 

 The birds were numerous from the end of May to July near Yarkand, where they were often 

 seen, generally in pairs, perching on small trees (mulberries and willows), and chirping away 

 merrily. These birds were always near cultivation, and appeared to prefer the vicinity of corn-, 

 barley-, and lucerne-fields. This Bunting breeds in May and June ; a nestling was obtained on 

 the 25th of the latter month ; on the 2nd July a young bird was caught (just able to fly) in 



