1891. 
July 12
(No 2)
England.
Tingatil. - very erect and still. The tail was wide spread
in flight. This bird resembles nothing that we have 
in America unless, perhaps, slightly the Snow Bunting,
when alone among rocks.  I heard neither song nor
call-note.
  Descending the cliff by a foot-path and obtaining
the key of the Castle I ascended the path on the
other side of the "coombe" and after climbing a long
flight of steps and passing through a locked gate
came out on slope sprinkled with ruins of
King Arthur's (?) castle which led to the summit
of the headland. This proved to be a nearly level
plateau of some size with more ruins and covered
with a peculiarly soft, deep turf shredded with
various wild flowers. Here I saw three Missed Thrushes,
another Wheatear and a family party of Limits like birds
which I could not identify. There was one old bird
in worn breeding plumage, reddish or purplish brown
on the back and plain yellowish brown beneath with
no conspicuous head or wing markings (certainly no
black on forehead or throat) and four young [deleted]of a[/deleted]
greenish olive above and buffy beneath with some
clear yellow or yellowish white in the wings and
abundant, narrow, dark streaks on the under parts.
[margin]Linota flavirostris?[/margin]
All five were feeding on seeds and kept near together
flitting from place to place. They were of about
the size of our Spinus tristis and of similar deeply
undulating flight and nearly if not quite identical
flight notes and low, tender call notes. Indeed I
should probably have passed them for S. tristis had
I seen them in New instead of old England.