JGtnüdfkjS.CBiâiter.deL ei lith/.
CENTROPHANES LAPP OMCA
WaUer. lmp
CENTROPHANES LAPPONICA.
Lapland Bunting.
Emberiza lapponica, Nilss. Orn. Suec.-, torn. i. 157.
Frmgilla calcarata, Pall. Itin., tom. ii. p. 710.
----------lapponica, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom i. p. 90.
Emberiza calcarata, Temm. Man. d’Orn., p. 190.
Plectrophanes lapponica, Selby, Trans. Linn, Soc., vol. xv. p. 156, pi. 1.
. , . — calcaratus, Meyer, 3. Theil des Tasobenb. Deutschi. Vög., p. 67.
Centrophanes lapponica, Kaup, Natärl. Syst., p. 159.
FnoM the date, now somewhat more'than forty year, ago, when Mr. Selby first assigned this species a plane
in our avifauna, many examples have been shot or captured » th is country. In most instances they were either
immature or in the winter dress ; it is evident, therefore, that the British islands are not the bird’« summer
home, and that its occurrence here must be. regarded as purely accidental. The specimen characterized
by Mr. Selby had been sent to Leadenhall market with sha.c Larks from Cambridgeshire ; a second and a third
were taken hear Brighton ; a fourth a few miles northward of Bmdon ; a fifth in Lancashire, and a sixth in
Westmoreland. During the autumn of 1866 one was caught near Highgate, and subsequently placed m the
aviary of the Zoological Society ; and another is recorded by Mr. Cooke, of Liskard, as haying been pur-
■ chased in the Liverpool market from a Southport bird-catcher. Mr. Stevenson, of Norwich, also records
that a mate was taken, during extremely severe weather, at Postwick, near that city, and, being
placed in the aviary of J . H. Gurney, Esq., assnmed the full summer plumage in the following spring.
“ The only other Norfolk specimen of this Bnnting I have either seen or heard of,” says Mr. Stevenson,
“ was shown to me by the.Rêy. E .1. Bell; it had been netted near Norwich, a few weeks before, and
was grndunüv assumai“ its sommer plumage, having the black on the head and throat imperfect, with a chestnut
bar on tire nape. " Tfow may be some other instances of its having been taken with us ; but sufficient
has Ireen said to ostafeli-h lire Upland or Lark-heeled Bunting as an occasional visitant to Britain. Its true
home is W h ith . r tin Piebtfare.the Redwing, and the lovely Bhic-throoted Warbler {Cyanecula mecicaj retire
f„, i l l . _ of incuhating-thc land of the Lap and the Lemming. There it breeds ii, abundance ; an d d
any son of Brifeiiu desires to observe the bird during the performance of this duty, he must leave for a while
the song of the Lark and the tinkle of the sheep-bell, and betake himself to the fells, the fjelds,and fjords of
Norway, Finland, aud Lapland, and dwell for a time among the nomadic races of those countries, am their
herds of reindeer; aud how much pleasure Ire re. y derive th e ,b y will be rimlilyappare.il from the following
chapterfrom Mr. Wheelwright's papery enlitW " Spring ami Sommer in Upland, which appeared ... the
Field for March 31, 1863, and which cannot fail to he urn resting to every one desirous of information
respecting this bird :— , ... ,
“ The U p lan d Bunting appeared to arrive at Quickie,cl: Inter than any other spec.es, and, unlike theShore-
U rk .d id not rest in the lowlands, hut wen. tip to the fells u, once; I don't think we saw six examples at Qu.ek.oek
the whole spring, whereas in the middle o f Ju n e they were liter.il!; swarming in certain places on the fell-
m ead ow s-so much so that in one night we took thirteen nears, from all of which we shot the old birds
Theyseemed, however, to be very local; and it was loog before we eoidd discover their breed,ng-place. Atlas,
we found a low lint a. the foot o f the highest snow-fells (hut still, perhaps 2600 feet above Qiuckmck)
covered with tough tussocky grass and patches o f willow bushes, and studded with innumerable lakes and
watercourses. This was a riel, tract to us ; for here we also found the nests of the Blue-.hroated Warbler,
Broad-billed Sandpiper, Tcromhrek'- Stint, Wood-Sandpiper. Phalarope, Scaup and Long-tailed Ducks.
I t is one o f thé swee.es. spots that can well be iin a g iu ed -a real oasis in the d e sert; and I never enjoyed a
summer ramble so much as in this wild tract. There are certain circumstances ... life, as well as places, which
leave an impression on the mind never to Ire obli.rrated ; and this fell-meadow forms one o f the brightest flowers
in the field of memory as regards my Lapland journey.
■■ When I first searched this spot 1 was attracted by a soft loud pipe, very much resembling the call of
Golden Plover. I . was long before I could make it no. ; for I eonld not see the bird winch uttered it : a. las. one
rose, and I shot it on the wing ; it proved to be a male U p Bnnting. The mystery was now so ved; and we
had no difficulty in finding the nest, as it was no. far off: and I soon became more fumil.ar witl, its haffite.
The female rarely rises, unless yon tread close to the nest, bn. runs away on the ground, m*ch like the Pip t.
The male sits on a stone or heap of earth, uttering his monotonous, plaintive whistle, till disturbed when e
rises in the air, much after the manner of the Common Bunting, soars for a while, and t es s. n y ro
to the ground, as a Skylark does into a field of young wheat in England. While m the u.r the song of the U p -