179 



Female in summer plumage. Above fulvous brown, the back and scapulars, particularly the latter, exhibiting 

 a strong tinge of bay ; rump olive-brown, not striped like the rest of the body with dark blackish shaft- 

 lines ; head brown, with a very faint tinge of olive, a little clearer on the nape, everywhere streaked 

 with dark shaft-markings ; eyebrow dull yellow tinged with brown ; cheeks and ear-coverts dull brown, 

 the latter inclining to black, the cheeks specked with brown; least wing-coverts olive-green, median 

 and greater ones edged with light bay ; wing and tail as in the male, although on some of the third 

 tail-feathers a spot of white appears at the tip ; throat dull brownish yellow with specks of brown, the 

 lower part of the throat rather clearer yellow; upper part of the breast dull olive-green with brown 

 shaft-stripes ; side of the upper part of the breast and flanks obscure bay, with very distinct longitudinal 

 lines of blackish brown ; abdomen dull citron, unspotted ; under tail-coverts pale citron, streaked with 

 blackish; under wing-coverts whitish, with a very distinct tinge of yellow. Total length 6 inches, 

 culmen 04, wing 3 - 0, tail 27, tarsus 0-7. 



Female in winter plumage. Like the male, more obscure than in summer, owing to the yellowish edgings 

 to the feathers. Some birds when in full winter dress have a tinge of ash-colour in the centre of 

 the back. 



Young female. Pale brown above, with light fulvous edgings to the feathers of the centre of the crown and 

 back, the latter mesially streaked with dark brown ; least wing-coverts olive-green as in the adult, the 

 edgings to all the other coverts pale fulvous, with scarcely any tinge of bay ; the secondaries broadly 

 edged with the latter colour, and also margined with fulvous towards the tip; rump and upper tail- 

 coverts olive-brown, the latter with very distinct dark centres ; under surface of the body very pale 

 yellowish, almost white, with a little tinge of brighter yellow on the upper part of the abdomen, all 

 entirely covered with little brown shaft-stripes, most distinct on the breast, and taking the form of 

 little spots on the throat and flanks. 



Obs. Considerable difficulty is often experienced in distinguishing the female Cirl Bunting from the hen of 

 the Common Yellow Bunting; but in reality they are very different. Our friend Mr. J. Gatcombe, of 

 Plymouth, suggests a very crucial test, and one which, we believe, will always be found to answer ; this 

 is by parting the feathers of the head, when the Yellow Bunting at all ages will be found to have the 

 bases of the feathers yellow. In addition to this character, the colour of the rump is different in the 

 two birds, that of the hen Yellow Bunting being bright bay, that of the female Cirl Bunting olive- 

 brown ; whilst one of the best distinguishing characteristics between the two species will be found in the 

 colour of the least wing-coverts, which in the Cirl Bunting are conspicuous olive-green at all ages. 



This is a more southern species than the Yellow Bunting, in its habits, however, much resembling 

 that bird. Throughout the whole of Central and Southern Europe it is plentiful, extending its 

 range eastward into Asia Minor and Russia in Europe. Its northern habitat does not extend 

 into Scandinavia ; but it is found in Northern Germany, Holland, and France, and is distributed, 

 though not very common, throughout the southern counties of the United Kingdom. 



The Cirl Bunting was first noticed in England by Colonel Montagu, who discovered it near 

 Kingsbridge, in Devonshire, in the winter of 1800. According to Yarrell it has been found in 

 Hampshire, Berkshire, Sussex, Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, Devonshire, and Cornwall, and is par- 

 ticularly abundant in the Isle of Wight. It is rare in the northern counties. One was obtained 

 in 1837 near Doncaster; and he had also heard of its being captured near York and Edinburgh. 

 Lord Lilford writes to us that on his own estate at Lilford, in Northamptonshire, he " once, and 



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