348 



MOUNTAIN BUNTING. 



and claws black ; the hind claw slightly hooked, 

 and early double the length of any other." 



The supposed female of this bird, which was 

 shot at the same time with the above, is said by 

 Mr. Montagu to have " the forehead and crown 

 deep chesnut-brown : cheeks the same, but paler : 

 the rest of the head above, back of the neck, sca- 

 pulars, back, rump, and tail-coverts, ferruginous 

 brown, more or less mottled with dusky, as the 

 middle feathers are more or less of that colour, 

 and of which the upper part of the back is most 

 predominant, and least on the upper tail-coverts : 

 chin and throat dirty white : upper part of the 

 breast crossed by a band of dull chesnut, above 

 which the feathers are pale, tipped with dusky, 

 giving a speckled appearance to that part; the 

 rest of the under parts sullied white : the wings 

 are nearly similar in marking to those of the male, 

 especially the smaller coverts; but the white in the 

 quill-feathers is less, not one of which is without 

 some dusky towards their tip, and the brown parts 

 incline to ferruginous ; the spurious wing like that 

 of the male, but not so full a black : the tail is 

 dusky, with a ferruginous tinge on the lighter 

 borders : the two outer feathers like those of the 

 other sex, but the fourth from the centre wants the 

 white on the inner web close to the shaft." 



This bird is much rarer than either of the fore- 

 going : it has occasionally been taken in severe 

 snowy weather, on the Mendip Hills, Somerset- 

 shire, and likewise in Yorkshire and Northamp- 

 tonshire. There can be no doubt that this and E. 



