192 
Notes oil ihe Ruddy Bunting. 
Uteres on tbe lRu^^v) iDuntinQ. 
( Eniberiza tictilaj. 
Ey H. V. Johnson. 
Prior to the August issue of Bh d Notes I had been unable 
to accurately identify niy pair of Buntings. The cock, I pur- 
chased as a Japanese Red-headed Bunting and the hen, at a 
later period, as a Chinese Bunting, but they are both of the 
same species. 
I have seen this species advertised as Japanese Red-backed, 
Japanese Red-headed, Chinese and Yellow-brown Bunliugs, as 
well as the name at head of these notes. Tlie\' are to be cheaply 
purchased, hence I presume they are fairly common, though I 
have never .seen them described in any book or paper. This is 
my chief reason for penning these notes. The cock came into 
n)y possession in August, 1908 and he has since been an occupant 
of my outdoor aviary ; it is evidently a hardy species, for my 
locality is a northern one (Lancashire) and the past winter 
contained .some very severe spells and much raw cold and wet, 
yet he was very fit and cheery the whole period and has never 
ailed at all since coming into my possession. I was rather 
disappointed on receiving the bird to find no trace of red in its 
plumage, as I naturally expected it from the dealer's name Red- 
lieaded. The song I find very pleasing, not very loud, something 
like a Saffron's, but minus the shrill notes, and, it also resembles 
this bird as to size. 
The head, throat, tail and back are a burnt sienna-brown 
and the bust a pale chrome-yellow; it is of quite a slim and 
elegant build and has quite a longish tail. 
As he was very pugnacious to his fellow captives, I took 
the earliest opportunity of obtaining a mate for him, but was 
unable to do this till July of this year ; I had hoped that this 
would have given him more occupation and so have made him 
more amiable, but it has nuide no difference, in fact he practically 
ignores the hen. 
The colouring of the female is very similar to that of the 
male, but of a much more subdued hue, and the brown areas of 
the under surface are more extensive; at any rate this is the case 
