216 



Obs. Males obtained in June from Dzungaria and Ferghana, in my collection, have the head and neck of 

 a much clearer grey, the latter having scarcely any darker stripes on the crown, and one has a very 

 distinct malar stripe. In the winter dress, which differs but little from that worn in the summer, 

 the feathers have ashy margins, which somewhat obscure the colours, especially on the wing-coverts 

 and underparts. 



From the Caucasus to Kashmir this Bunting appears to be tolerably common, but I am unable 

 to define the eastern limit of its range. Holdsworth, it is true, records its occurrence near 

 Canton (Ibis, 1872, p. 473); but as this record was based on an unlabelled specimen (a female) 

 which the collector, Mr. Samuel Bligh, believed he had obtained in China, though he had placed 

 it amongst birds he had collected in Ceylon, it should be treated with caution, and as there is 

 no other instance of this species having been observed in China, it appears probable that Mr. Bligh 

 was mistaken. 



From the Caucasus it has only been once recorded, Dr. Radde having received one which was 

 obtained at Derbent late in July ; but in Transcaspia it is stated by Mr. Zarudny (Bull. Soc. Mosc. 

 iii. p. 802) to be common in the mountains in the upper part of the Tchandyr River, where it 

 frequents the lower mountain zone ; and in Persia, according to Mr. Blanford (E. Pers. ii. p. 259), 

 it " breeds throughout the hills of Persia at a considerable elevation. I almost always met with 

 it wherever the road ascended to 8000 feet above the sea; but I never saw it in summer at lower 

 elevations, and I have no doubt that the birds which are common in parts of North-western and 

 Central India in the winter breed on the highlands of Afghanistan and Persia. De Filippi's 

 types were from near a village called Sardarak, almost at the foot of Mount Ararat, whilst the 

 specimens originally described by Blyth were collected by Hutton near Kandahar." 



Sir Oliver St. John speaks of it as being common in Southern Afghanistan in spring, where, 

 according to Col. Swinhoe (Ibis, 1882, p. 113), it "arrives in the first week in April. Numbers 

 were found resting on the city walls at Kandahar on the 8th April ; and great numbers were to 

 be seen feeding on the road all the way to Kojuk." Both Col. Biddulph and Mr. Scully record 

 it as tolerably common on passage during the month of September in the Gilgit district, and the 

 former adds (Ibis, 1882, p. 282) that he received specimens from the upper part of the Yassin 

 Valley, near the foot of the Shandur plateau, in August. According to Mr. Oates (Faun. Brit. 

 India, Birds, ii. p. 258) it is a winter visitor to the whole of the north-western portion of the plains 

 of India, extending south as far as Khandala and Chanda, and east as far as Etawah. This species 

 migrates through Kashmir, and has been observed in Gilgit in September, and our Indian birds 

 probably summer in Turkestan and Persia. 



It is found in Turkestan. Dr. Severtzoff, who records it in error under the name of 

 Emberiza ccesia, says that it breeds there; and, according to Mr. Pleske (Rev. Turk. Orn. p. 19), 

 Russoff obtained it at Abu-Petsch and Iskander-kul, in which latter locality it breeds. Mr. Pleske 

 also says that several specimens were sent by the brothers Grum-Grzimailo from the Tian-schan 

 (Dshirgalty, Kijtyn, and Dsjan-dsjun-gol) ; Dr. Severtzoff (Ibis, 1883, p. 61) says that it is found 

 in the Pamir, where it passes in great numbers in August ; and I may add that Dr. O. Finsch 

 (Reise n. West-Sib. p. 103) obtained it near Sassan, and later on, in June, met with it near 

 Maitjerek, on the spur of the Altai Mountains. 



In its habits the present species appears to most nearly resemble Emberiza ccesia. It affects 



