ACCENTOR

any of the 12 species of the bird genus Prunella, constituting the Old World family Prunellidae (order Passeriformes). They have thrushlike bills and rounded wings, and they frequently hop or move with a peculiar motion that has given them another name, shufflewing. Accentors breed chiefly in mountains but winter at lower elevations. A widespread lowland species is the dunnock, or hedge sparrow (P. modularis), which nests in hedges and shrubbery evergreens. A typical member is the alpine accentor (P. collaris), of northwestern Africa and from Spain to Japan; 18 centimetres (7 inches) long and mostly brown, it has reddish-spotted flanks and a heavily stippled throat (sexes alike). In courtship the male warbles from a station near the ground or may ascend, larklike.