252 EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



spotted, streaked, and blotched with rich purple-brown, almost 

 black, and with underlying spots of pale violet. The ground- 

 colour of some eggs is very pink. Many of the spots are very 

 large and round, and the streaks are generally short and isolated. 

 Most of the markings are on the large end of the egg, where they 

 form an irregular zone. The eggs vary in length from 0"88 to 

 0*75 inch, and in breadth from OG7 to 0"58 inch. They vary 

 considerably in shape, some specimens being almost round, whilst 

 others are considerably elongated, and some are oval. The eggs 

 of the Ortolan Bunting do not resemble very closely those of any 

 other British species. Perhaps they approach most closely to 

 those of the Eeed Bunting ; but the ground-colour is always 

 clearer and paler, and the markings usually consist of spots, not 

 streaks. 



THE CIRL BUNTING. 

 {Emberiza cirlus.) 

 Plate 58, Figs. 1, 2. 



The Cirl Bunting is one of the most local of our resident 

 birds. It is strictly a southern species, and has been found 

 breeding in all the counties of the south coast. On the 

 European Continent it does not appear to breed north of 

 Dresden or east of the Crimea. It is a resident in Central 

 and Southern Europe, but in South Italy, Greece and Asia 

 Minor it breeds in the mountains, wintering in the plains. 



A nest of this bird in my collection is somewhat loosely put 

 together, and made externally of various plant-stems, blades of 

 grass, roots and quantities of dead leaves. It is lined with one or 

 two scraps of moss, a few pieces of fine grass and a great quantity 

 of short hair. It measures about four inches in outside diameter, 

 and is about one and a half inch deep inside. Some nests of this 

 bird contain no hair, and are lined with rootlets only, whilst 

 others are almost exclusively made of moss and coarse herbage. 



The eggs of the Cirl Bunting are laid early in May. They are 

 four or five in number, and do not vary very much. They 

 are generally bluish or greenish-white in ground-colour, blotched, 

 spotted and streaked with very dark brown, almost black. The 

 streaks are usually very bold and blotchy, and most numerous on 



