72 CLAY-COLOURED BUNTING. 



edges direct, the gape-line ascending to beyond the nostrils, afterwards 

 straight, the tip acute; lower mandible with the angle short and rounded, 

 the dorsal line almost straight, the sides rounded; the edges inflected, the 

 tip acute. Nostrils basal, roundish, partially concealed by the feathers. 



Head ovate, of moderate size; neck short; body rather slender. Feet of 

 moderate length, slender; tarsus compressed, with seven anterior scutella, 

 and two plates behind, meeting so as to form a sharp edge; toes free, the 

 first stronger, the third much longer than the lateral, of which the inner is 

 somewhat shorter than the outer; claws of moderate length, arched, much 

 compressed, laterally grooved, acute. 



Plumage soft and blended, on the back rather compact. Wings of mode- 

 rate length, rather rounded, the first quill two-twelfths of an inch shorter 

 than the second, which is scarcely longer than the third and fourth, the other 

 primaries slowly graduated; the secondaries rounded, the inner not elongat- 

 ed. Tail long, emarginate, of twelve narrow feathers, of which the middle 

 are three-twelfths of an inch shorter than the outer. 



Bill yellow, greyish-brown toward the end. Feet flesh-coloured, claws 

 dusky brown. The general colour of the upper parts is light yellowish- 

 brown, each feather having a central streak of brownish-black; the streaks 

 on the rump are fainter and more slender. The quills and tail feathers 

 greyish-brown, narrowly margined with brownish-white. Over the eye is a 

 long band of brownish-white; the cheeks are pale brown, the sides of the 

 neck are very light buff, the rest of the lower parts greyish-white, the sides 

 of the body tinged with greyish-brown. 



Length to end of tail 5-^ inches; bill along the ridge 4y|; wing from 

 flexure 2j%) tail 2^; tarsus f| ; hind toe jf , its claw T \; middle toe -ff , its 

 claw f |. 



The Female is similar to the male, but has less yellow on the sides of the 

 neck, and is somewhat smaller. 



Length to end of tail 5^ inches; bill along the ridge y|; wing from 

 flexure 2y|; tail 2 T 6 2 ; tarsus -j%; hind toe and claw ^; middle toe and claw 



12- 

 Th is species has some resemblance to Emberiza pusilla, from which, 

 however, it is easily distinguishable. The bill is longer and much more 

 slender, its wings and tail also longer, and the latter more deeply emargi- 

 nate. There are none of the reddish-brown tints conspicuous in the Field 

 Sparrow, which, moreover, has the gape-line less deflected at the base, and 

 has the palate concave, in place of being knobbed. The specimens from 

 which the above descriptions have been taken, were procured on the 15th of 

 June, IS 34, on the Rocky Mountains, by Mr. Townsend. 



