248 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. vii. 



also very rufous. Mr. Bunyard has a remarkable clutch 

 from Gloucestershire. 



Linnet {Carduelis c. cannabina). — ^A similar variation 

 occurs not uncommonly in this species. 



Bullfinch [Pyrrhula p. 'pileata). — ^A scarce variety in 

 which the ground is white, with a few brown or reddish 

 markings, has been taken in Somerset (R. H. Read), 

 Northants (C. E. Wright, 1902), and Mr. P. F. Bunyard 

 also possesses examples from Kent and Surrey. In the 

 latter county this variety is not uncommon, according to 

 Mr. H. Kirke Swann, and four instances are mentioned 

 in the Ornithologist, pp. 96-97. 



Crossbill {Loxia c. curvirostra). — Some sets have no 

 bluish tuige in the ground-colour, and lack the dark 

 markings. A Suffolk clutch, taken by Mr. Bunyard, is 

 of this character. 



Scottish Crossbill {L. c. scotica). — Clifford Borrer took 

 a set of four in Ross-shire, March, 1909 : ground-colour 

 white with clear red spots. This type is not very infrequent, 

 and is represented in Major Stirling's collection. 



House-Sparrow [Passer d. domesticus). — ^Erythrism is 

 more or less noticeable in many eggs. Mr. D. Welburn 

 possesses a set of four red eggs (P. F. Bunyard).* 



Tree-Sparrow (P. m. montanus). — ^Erjrthristic eggs are 

 rare, but have been occasionally recorded, and are figured 

 by Frohawk (plate iv., figs. 146, 7).t 



Corn-Bunting {Emberiza c. calandra). — ^Vinous coloration 

 is more or less distinctive of all eggs of the Corn and Yellow 

 Buntings. In this species many eggs have the red-brown 

 markings extremely well developed, and the type which 

 is figured by Frohawk (pi. v., fig. 187) occurs not only in 

 England but also in southern Europe and north Africa. 



Yellow-Bunting [E. c. citrinella). — ^The same remarks 

 apply also to this species, except that its range is more 

 limited, and the markings are never so heavy. (See Jourdain, 

 Eggs of Eur. Birds, pi. xm., figs. 9-11, and Frohawk, 

 pi. v., fig. 189). 



[In the Cirl Bunting (£'. cirlus) the ground-colour nearly 

 always shows some trace of bluish, but Mr. E. W. Blagg 



* Jourdain also possesses a clutch of the eastern race {Passer d. 

 indicus) with red spots on a white ground, from the Persian Gulf. 



f Some eastern sparrows such as the Yellow-throated Sparrow 

 (Gymnorhis flavicolUs) also exhibit erythristic variations. A red egg 

 is figured in the Cat. Eggs Brit. Mus.^ V., pi. x. 



