148 NESTING OF CIRL BUNTINtl IN YORKSHIRE. 



It will be gathered from the preceding remarks that the plicated 

 rocks of the old Yorkshire floor give us the first indications of that 

 connexion with Scandinavia, which has been more or less marked 

 ever since. I have dwelt specially upon the development of these 

 rocks, because although, thanks to the energy of Yorkshire geologists, 

 a great part of the geology of the county has been very fully 

 elucidated, this early chapter is not yet fully written, and I would 

 recommend those who love fine scenery, country inns whose comfort 

 has not yet been entirely destroyed by the rush of the destructive 

 tourist-wave, and physical geology which is unrivalled by that of 

 any other district of our island, to complete our knowledge of these 

 ancient rocks. The fossiliferous Ordovician rocks of Norber and of 

 the Sedbergh district will, doubtless, yield many rare forms to further 

 search, and the Silurian slates will furnish a rich harvest, in addition 

 to that which has been hitherto reaped from them. 



Finally, the explorer of this delightful region will not enter upon 

 an undescribed district, but will find in Messrs. Davis and Lees* 

 work upon West Yorkshire an admirable description of the geology 

 of the district. 



NOTE—ORNITHOLOG V. 



Nesting of the Cirl Bunting in Yorkshire.— I have great pleasure in 

 calling attention to the nesting of the Cirl Bunting in Yorkshire. This bird seems 

 lo have been overlooked by ornithologists. It may have increased its numbers 

 and spread northward since its discovery in this country by Montagu. Having 

 looked over the family of the Buntings in a new ornithological work by 

 Mr. Howard Saunders, I find that the Cirl Bunting {Einberiza cirltis) has by chance 

 been olitained in Norfolk, the Midland Counties, and it is said to be of accidental 

 occurrence in Yorkshire. If so, I must say that it is for want of closer observation. 

 At Lofthouse, about the middle of May, 1882, hearing the song of a Bunting 

 which drew my attention by its being peculiar, I soon found out that its song was 

 different, both in tone and variation, from either the Corn Bunting (E. iiiiliaria') 

 or the Yellowhammer {E. litriitella). By the aid of the field-glass, the site was 

 discovered where the building operations were going on, and on May 31st, 

 I visited that site, and found the nest built in the fronds of a Lady Fern {Asplenium 

 ft/ix-ftcmiiia) about a yard from a hedge, and six inches from the ground, 

 containing three eggs. Again, on May 6th, 1889, at Low-Laithes-Lane, near 

 Fiushdyke, Ossett, I had the opportunity of finding another containing four eggs, 

 built in a very thick bushy thorn, two feet from the ground, so well concealed 

 that had not the bird flown from its nest, it would not have been detected. Nest 

 not so slovenly built as its congener the Yellowhammer, but deeper, and more 

 cup-shaped, and rather more moss intermi.ved, lined with a good quantity of small 

 fibres, fine grasses, and hair. Eggs of a muddy pinkish-white, with blotches of a 

 dark chocolate colour, with a few hair-lines springing generally from the blotches. 

 I may say that the eggs have been seen and verified l>y Mr. Geo. Parkin of 

 Wakefield. — John Ward, Pymont House, Lofthouse, March 21st, 1890. 



The Cirl Bunting has been casually observed in Yorkshire from localities 

 between Doncaster in the south to Richmond in the north, and it is said to have 

 nested near Huddersfield. In the above communication we regret to observe that 

 no mention is made of the bird, the most, perhaps the only, satisfactory means of 

 identifying the ownership of the nests and eggs discovered. — \Y. E.C. 



Naturalist 



