THE GIRL BUNTING 



EMBER1ZA CIRLUS 



LOCAL names in surrounding counties r 



STATUS IN BRITISH AVIFAUNA : A sparingly distributed 

 and local resident in the southern and midland counties 

 of England and in Wales. 



RADIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 

 PAUL'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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