THE CIRL BUNTING f 197 



same persistency however in the Cirl Bunting's 

 music ; it is more fitful ; and often for days together 

 not a bird will give voice if cold windy weather 

 prevails, although the Yellow Bunting will continue 

 through it all. The Cirl Bunting's song is just one 

 of those simple little refrains that punctuate the 

 vernal chorus of more gifted vocalists ; not much in 

 itself, yet a pleasing if a minor variation in the music 

 of the fields at this delightful period of the year. 



The Cirl Bunting's resumption of song is a certain 

 sign that the breeding season of this species is once 

 more approaching. Its favourite breeding haunts 

 are agricultural lands, gorse-coverts, and waste 

 grounds or commons where plenty of trees and 

 brushwood occur. So far as Devonshire is con- 

 cerned we do not remark any particular difference 

 in the summer haunts of this and the preceding 

 species ; both birds may be found nesting within a 

 stone's-throw of each other. The nest is generally 

 well concealed, and built either in a low gorse-bush, 

 amongst briars and brambles, or on a bank of a 

 hedge amongst the luxuriant growth of flowers and 

 tall weeds ; we have seen it at the bottom of a 

 hedge wedged in between the stems. It is usually 

 placed close to the ground, if not actually upon it, 

 but is occasionally built as many as six feet above 

 it. It is made outwardly of dry grass, roots, straws, 

 leaves and moss, and lined with finer roots and hair. 

 Sometimes the latter is entirely omitted. The' 



