CIRL BUNTING. 107 



tall grass on a bank or hcd^e, and sometimes tolerably 

 close to a building, in a rose or briar that has been 

 trained or tied to the wall. The nest is built of fine 

 twigs, dried bents of grass or hay, with a little green 

 moss, and frequently lined with small thin fibrous roots; 

 sometimes, however, the inside of the nest is found to be 

 completed with no other material than what is used for 

 the outside. 



Four or five eggs are laid; they are of a dull bluish-white 

 colour, streaked, blotched, and speckled with dark reddish- 

 brown. The eggs, however, appear to vary very much both 

 as regards the grounding and the marks. The young 

 birds have the breast of a pretty pale yellow, with dusky 

 streaks, the back is a light brown, speckled with black; the 

 olive tint a2:)pears after the first moult, and deepens as the 

 bird grows older. 



The length of the Cirl Bunting is nearly six inches and 

 a half; bill a pale bluish colour; iris dark brown; above 

 the eye is a streak of bright yellow, which comes round 

 behind, and then across the upper part of the breast, 

 offering a strong contrast to the black throat above. 

 There is a yellow spot on each side of the head, the top of 

 which is dark olive; the back and sides of the neck are 

 yellowish-grey; the throat is black, slightly tinged with 

 green ; the breast a dull olive, crossed with a chestnut 

 brown band ; the back is a rich chestnut brown, with the 

 edges of the feathers tinged with olive, and in the summer 

 it gets a dusky white colour ; the tail is a dusky black, the 

 outer feathers being patched with white on the inside, and 

 the outside edge of the external feather is altogether 

 white; under tail-coverts pale yellow, streaked with dark 

 brown; the wings are yellowish underneath, and on the 



