CIRL BUNTING. 55 



neatly finished. Tlie female sits remarkably close, and 

 quickly returns to the nest after being flushed. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Cirl Bunting are four or five in number ; 

 second clutches are not unfrequently composed of three. 

 They are bluish-white in ground colour, sometimes with 

 a faint greenish tinge, spotted and streaked with very 

 dark brown, almost black. The streaks are bold, blotchy, 

 and, as is usual, most frequent over the large end of the 

 egg. The underlying markings, iow, and faint in colour, 

 are violet-gray. Average measurement, "87 inch in 

 length, by '65 inch in breadth. Incubation, performed 

 chiefly by the female, lasts fourteen days. 



Diagnostic characters : The intense, nearly black, 

 lines and spots, and the bluish-white ground colour, 

 readily distinguish the eggs of the Cirl Bunting from 

 those of the Yellow Bunting, the only ones with which 

 they are likely to be confused. 



Family FRINGILLID/E. Genus Emberiza. 



Sub-family EMBERIZIN^. 



YELLOW BUNTING. 



Emberiza citrinella, Liimaus. 

 Double Brooded. Laying season, April to August. 



British breeding area : The Yellow Bunting 

 breeds more or less commonly in all districts suited to 

 its requirements throughout the British Islands, even 

 extending to the Outer Hebrides and the Orkneys, but 

 not to the Shetlands. 



Breeding habits : The favourite haunts of the 



