THE CIRL BUNTING 195 



ance in that county nearly a hundred years later. 

 Although the Cirl Bunting may not be quite so 

 common in this country as the Yellow Bunting, it is 

 by no means a rare bird, if a local one, and during 

 winter may sometimes be seen in flocks consisting 

 of several scores of individuals. More often it is 

 to be met with in flocks of Yellow Buntings, and 

 the habits of the two species are remarkably 

 alike. In autumn and winter we remark the same 

 gregarious tendencies, the same preference for the 

 company of other hard-billed birds, the resorting 

 to similar haunts. It is said that the Cirl Bunting 

 shows more preference for trees. This it certainly 

 does, but during spring and summer only ; in 

 autumn and winter it may be seen as frequently 

 upon the hedges and the ground as its commoner 

 ally. We have repeatedly watched flocks of Cirl 

 Buntings feeding on newly-manured fields and near 

 ricks, fly up in scattered order into the nearest 

 hedges, and remain there until their alarm has 

 subsided, and they have dropped down again to feed 

 one or two at a time. Neither is the bird any more 

 shy at this season than the Yellow Bunting, and it 

 will often allow one to approach it within a few 

 yards with little show of fear. Upon the ground it 

 runs to and fro or hops here and there like the 

 preceding species ; in fact the habits of one are an 

 exact repetition of those of the other all the winter 

 through. In spring, when the flocks break up, there 



