28 GKAMINI VOILE. 



larly soft. It appears to be rather more an insectivorous 

 bird than the more common species. 



The cirl bunting is about the same length as the yellow 

 bunting; but the tail is rather longer, more slender, and 

 not so well fortified by coverts. The whole plumage is, 

 indeed, more soft and loose, and less fitted for contending 

 with the winds than that of the other buntings, and much 

 more so than that of the species which breeds in the distant 

 north. 



. In the male bird, the bill is bluish above, and pale on the 

 under part. The irides are hazel, inclining to brown. The 

 throat and the streak across the eye greenish black, with a 

 streak of bright yellow above, and a paler one below it. 

 Gorget pale yellow. Sides of the neck and lower part of 

 the breast pale olive-green, with a soft tinge of grey, passing 

 into pale yellow on the belly, and again into mottled tints of 

 reddish orange on the sides. The centres of the feathers 

 on the head blackish, those on the scapulars reddish orange, 

 passing into blackish brown on the back, and again into 

 reddish brown on the rump. The darker ones margined 

 with grey, the orange with yellowish white, and the red 

 with greyish white. Quills greenish grey, with pale yellow 

 margins. The outer feathers of the tail with white webs on 

 the basal half, other feathers blackish margined with yel- 

 lowish grey. Feet brown with a tinge of red. The female 

 has the top of the head dull olive-green ; the chin, where 

 the dusk is in the male, pale brown with darker streaks. 

 The flanks streaked with brown where they are mottled with 

 reddish orange in the male ; and the colours generally less 

 bright and pure. The female rather less than the male. 



The cirl bunting was first ascertained to be a British bird 

 by the indefatigable and discriminating Montagu, in the 

 winter of 1800, and its nest was soon afterwards found by 

 the same ornithologist. It builds rather earlier than the 



