98 
FRINGILLIN^. PLECTROPHANES. 
wide ; coeca very small, cylindrical. Trachea simple, with 
four pairs of inferior laryngeal muscles. The Fringillinae 
pass into the Icterinae on the one hand, and the Alaudinae on 
the other. The Buntings scarcely differ from the Finches in 
any other character than the knob on the palate, which is 
common to them with the Icterinse. 
GENUS I. PLECTROPHANES, Meyer. LARK-BUNTING. 
Bill very short, robust, tapering, somewhat compressed ; 
upper mandible considerably narrower than the lower, its 
dorsal outline very slightly convex, the sides rounded, the 
edges inflected, the marginal outline slightly angulate ; 
lov/er mandible with the dorsal line ascending and slightly 
convex, the edges involute. Nostrils basal, roundish, partly 
concealed by the feathers. Head of moderate size, ovate ; 
neck short ; body compact, tarsus shorter than the middle 
toe with its claw, compressed, with seven anterior scutella ; 
hind toe stout ; claws long, rather stout, little arched, acute, 
that of the hind toe much elongated. Plumage soft and 
blended. Wings long, pointed ; the first quill longest. Tail 
rather long, emarginate. 
152. 1. Plectrophanes Lapponica, Linn. Lapland Lark- 
Bunting. 
Plate CCCLXV. Male and Female. 
Male, in summer, with the head and fore part of the neck black ; a 
white band over the eye, passing* along the neck, and margining the 
black ; a brownish-red crescent on the hind neck ; the feathers on the 
rest of the upper parts black, broadly margined with yellowish-red ; 
first row of small coverts tipped with white ; lower parts white, the 
sides streaked with black. Male, in winter, with the upper part of 
the head black, the feathers edged with brownish-red, cheeks and 
band over the eye greyish-yellow ; feathers of the fore neck black, 
broadly tipped with white ; dark streaks on the sides not apparent. 
Female with the upper parts reddish-grey, spotted with black ; a 
greyish- white band over the eye ; the cheeks greyish-brown ; lower 
parts grejdsh-white, the sides streaked with dusky. 
Mah, 6 1 ; wing, 3l§. 
