nest ensconced in a little nook, half covered by herbage. But the appearance of the eggs took me by surprise ;
for they were unlike any I knew—of a brown colour, indeed, but of a brown so warm that I could only liken it
to that of old mahogany-wood, and compare them, in my rniud, with those of the Lapland Bunting. However,
there was the bird, running about so close to me that, with my glass, I could see her almost as well as if she had
been in my hand. I replaced the eggs without disturbing the nest, and, carefully marking the spot, we
retired. In half an hour or so we returned, going softly to the place; and Mr. Simpson, reaching his arm
over the protecting hassock of grass, dexterously secured the bird in bis hand as she.was taking flight. I
then at once knew, from her pale fawn-coloured throat, that the nest we had found belonged to a species
which, up to that time, I believe had been knowu in Europe only as au accidental visitant.
“ In a week’s time we were quartered at Nyborg, a small settlement at the head of the Waranger Fjord.
Here willows and birches grew with far greater luxuriance, even at the water’s edge, than lower down the
inlet. Some even attained to nearly twice the height of a man, and formed thickets which, the intervening
spaces being exceedingly boggy, were not easily explored. In this secluded spot we found our red-throated
friend 'not unplentiful. We could scarcely go out of the house without seeing one; and in the immediate
neighbourhood we procured some more identified nests, making a total of five, and a fine series of nine
birds, all of course in their breeding-plumage. We had also abundant opportunities of watching their habits,
and, above all, of contrasting them with those of the Titlark {A. pratensis'), which was not uncommon in the
district, and to which this species has been so unjustly annexed as a variety. The two birds had, according
to our observation, an entirely different range, A. pratensis haunting a station less wooded (saving the expression)
than that of A . cervinus, which latter we found at times feeding on the sea-shore, a habit we did not
notice the former to indulge in. No one with ears, either, could for a moment be in doubt about their respective
notes. It is trne that the full song of A. cervinus did not differ so strikiugly from the more feeble
performance of A. pratensis as does, for instance, the joyous burst of A . arboreus; but it had an unmistakable
resemblance to the louder and perhaps harsher strains of A . obscurus, and in all cases was sufficiently characteristic
for one to be quite certain as to the nature of the performer, even when the individual was not in
sight. In a word, none of our party had any hesitation as to regarding A . cervinus^s, a perfectly good species.
“ A young bird was obtained at Mortensnses, between Wadso and Nyborg, on the 16th of Ju ly ; and as it
was attended by its parents (both of which were well seen by Mr. Wolley and myself), it could only have
just left the n est; it appeared to differ from the young of the Titlark merely in being of a ruddier complexion.................
I have already mentioned what the eggs looked like; and it would be difficult, in words,
to convey a better idea of them. All the nests I saw were simply built of dry bents, without any lining of
feathers or hair.”
Middendorff, who considers A . rufogularis and A . cervinus to be identical, says of the latter, “ This bird
was found in both North and South Siberia. I shot a female in the Stanowoj mountains, on the 26th of May,
consequently not on the passage. The rust-yellow of the Siberian specimen has a somewhat violet tint, very
similar to the colour on the breast of the Turtle Dove; it covers the cheeks near the eyes, the breast, flanks,
neck, and upper part of the breast. It is only found in this plumage from May to July.”
The Rev. H. B. Tristram obtained a single specimen only on the coast of the plain of Sharon in winter
—that is, in the mouth of February.
Mr. Swinhoe states that it is “ a winter bird in South China and Formosa, which passes the summer in
Kamtschatka and the northern regions. Flocks pass over Amoy as late as the first week in May. Before
leaving China the bird undergoes an entire moult, when the eyebrows, throat, and breast show a pale
vinaceous mixed with more or less ochreous, but unspotted. As the nuptial season comes on, the silvery
tinge intensifies into a uniform dusky vinaceous, which encroaches further on the lower parts. I have a fine
series, showing every gradation between the pale-spotted winter and the fine nuptial dress.”
The male has the head, neck, back, rump, and upper tail-coverts olive, with a broad stripe of dark brown
down the centre of each feather, even on those of the rump; wing-coverts dark brown, tipped with creamy
white; primaries brown, with paler edges; tertiaries very dark brown, bordered with light greyish brown ;
tail brown, the two centre feathers edged with tawny, and the other part white, with a streak of brown down
the margin of the inner web; the next with a triangular spot of white at the tip ; throat, cheeks, and breast
rufous, with a gorget formed by longitudinal streaks of brown across the la tte r; abdomen and under tail-
coverts pale fawn-colour, streaked on the flanks with dark brown.
In the female the rufous colouring is confined to the throat and cheeks, and the breast is more thickly
streaked with dark brown ; in other respects the plumage resembles that of the male.
The figures, which are of the natural size, represent two states of plumage. The plant is the Pinguicula
vulgaris.