TEE -CIRL’ BUNTING 
EMBERIZA CIRLUS 
LocaL names in surrounding counties : 
Sratus iN British Avirauna: A sparingly distributed 
and local resident in the southern and midland counties 
of England and in Wales. 
Raprat DistriBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 
Paut’s: Although the Cirl Bunting has been known to 
breed within the nine-mile limit, it must be classed as one 
of the rarest and most local of London birds. I have no 
records of the species in the inner districts, from none of 
the urban parks, and so forth, although the evidence, of 
course, is only negative. ‘That it may occasionally wander 
to such places is by no means impossible, looking to the 
fact of its suburban distribution. Perhaps other observers 
may have been more fortunate. ‘The Cirl Bunting has 
been reported nesting at Wimbledon and the adjoining 
district of Coombe Wood, also near Wembley Park, which 
is a very suitable locality for the species. In Essex there 
are at present, I believe, no nesting records, and the bird 
is certainly a rare one in the east. In the more remote 
portions of the Metropolitan area I may mention Croydon 
and Epsom as localities for this species, which seems to 
prefer fairly well-timbered country, tall hedgerows, and 
fields with plenty of trees in them. It can nowhere be 
regarded as a plentiful species. 
The Cirl Bunting was first discovered to be a British 
bird in Devonshire, by Montagu, more than a hundred 
years ago. I have seen a good deal of this species in its 
Devonshire haunts, where it is quite common, and my 
observations lead me to describe it as a Tree Bunting. 
It is by far the most arboreal of the indigenous British 
Buntings, and possibly this peculiarity causes it to be 
much overlooked. A bird that spends so much of its 
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