426 



SHAFT-TAILED BUNTING. 

 (Emberiza regia.) 



E. rectricibus intermediis quatuor longissimis cequalibus apice tan- 



turn pennatis, rostro rubra. 

 Bunting with the four middle tail-feathers very long, even, and 



only webbed at the tip ; beak red. 

 Emberiza regia. Lin. Syst. Nat. 1.313. 23. — Gmel. Syst. Nat. 



1. 884.— Lath. Ind. Orn. 1. 406.24. 

 Vidua riparia africana. Briss. 3. 129- 28. t. Q.J. I. 

 La Veuve a quatre brins. Buff. Hist. Nat. Ois. 4. 158. 5. 

 La Veuve de la cote d'Afrique. Buff. PL Enl. S.f. i. 

 Shaft-tailed Bunting. Lath. Gen. Syn. 3. 183. 1$. 



This bird is the size of a Linnet : beak red : 

 sides of the head, the under parts of the body, 

 and round the neck, rufous : hind-part of the neck 

 spotted with black : plumage above, lower part of 

 the thighs, and vent, black : the four middle tail- 

 feathers near ten inches in length, and webbed 

 only for about two inches at the ends ; the rest of 

 them simple shafts, without the least appearance 

 of a web ; the other feathers even, short, and black: 

 legs red : female brown, and without the long tail- 

 feathers. 



Like the rest of the long-tailed Buntings, these 

 birds moult twice in the year ; and in the winter 

 the male becomes very similar to a Linnet in 

 colour. 



Dr. Latham mentions having a specimen of this 

 bird in his collection with only two kinds of brown, 

 and no black on the plumage ; the margins of the 



