LTTTLE BUNTING. 67 



Its habits are no doubt similar to those of the 

 closely-allied species which inhabit the northern local- 

 ities, but I am not able to add anything authoritatively 

 upon the snbject. 



By the kindness of M. Verreaux, of Paris, I have 

 been favoured with a series of four specimens of this 

 bird, three marked Europe, and one "Mer cV Ochotysk, 

 ? , ?" I have figured this last specimen, and the male 

 in breeding plumage. The other two specimens are 

 only distinguished by the less amount of russet on the 

 throat in one, and its absence in the other, which 

 I presume represent the more or less perfect winter 

 plumage. 



The male in breeding plumage has the top of the 

 head, cheeks, and throat rich russet red, with a broad 

 black band stretching from the base of the beak over 

 each eye to the occiput, where it joins a collar of 

 cream- colour, which passes entirely round the base of 

 the neck. Upper parts of the body dark browu, 

 mingled with light russet, so as to shew a mottled 

 appearance of those colours on the back, with the 

 broad tertials nearly brown black; primaries rich hair 

 brown, with their tips tinged with russet, and the 

 outer web lightly edged with cream-colour; secondaries 

 same colour, edged with a band of russet externally; 

 rump greyish brown. Tail brown, the most external 

 quill nearly all white, the second having a wed"'e- 

 shaped band of that colour on the base of the broad 

 inner web, the base of the wedge being at the distal 

 end of the feather. Crop and flanks cream-colour, 

 thickly covered with longitudinal marks of black 

 brown; abdomen grey white; under tail coverts cream- 

 colour. 



Schlegel describes the beak of a blackish horn-colour, 



