A HISTORY OF 
one of them however afterwards escaped. 
During the same winter this bird had been 
notified from several other counties, indica- 
ting that a considerable number must have 
arrived as early as the previous autumn. 
66. Corn-Bunting. Emberiza milaria, Linn. 
Locally, Bunting Lark. 
Resident and a partial migrant. In the 
enclosed and wooded districts this bird is 
seldom observed. ‘The more open lands of 
the eastern portion of the county offer it far 
greater attractions, particularly the neighbour- 
hood of Wilden, the Eastcotts, and the cul- 
tivated lands generally bordering the Ouse 
and Ivel. Still more frequently will its 
monotonous song be heard in the vicinity of 
the chalk hill range in the south of the county, 
where around Totternhoe in particular I have 
found it remarkably abundant. In proportion 
to its numbers I do not think any bird is more 
subject to pied variation. 
67. Yellow Hammer. 
Linn. 
A very common resident and generally dis- 
tributed. 
Emberiza  citrinella, 
68. Cirl Bunting. LEmberiza cirlus, Linn. 
The distribution of the cirl bunting in 
Bedfordshire has yet to be more fully investi- 
gated. In December 1869 Mr. A. L. Jessopp 
found this bird in some numbers at Clapham 
Park, and he secured altogether ten males and 
one female. The males numbered about 
thirty, and were associated with some reed- 
buntings ; the female birds, which kept in a 
separate flock, were only about six in all, and 
were very difficult to get near. ‘I think 
there is little doubt,’ adds Mr. Jessopp, ‘ that 
from what I was able to learn at the time 
that the cirl bunting nested in that locality 
the previous year.’ Mr. A. Covington adds 
that a few of these birds seem to visit us 
occasionally in the winter. In addition to 
those above mentioned, all of which passed 
through his hands, another, a male, was 
brought to him which had been killed at Oak- 
ley in January 1870, and in the winter follow- 
ing he had two more from Bromham. 
Another was obtained at Wilden (Zoohgist, 
1871). Mr. A. F. Crossman observed one 
in 1889 between Clapham and Oakley. 
There is another specimen I am told in the 
headkeeper’s possession at Woburn which 
was killed from a small party in the park. 
Mr. Cane of Luton tells me that in his forty 
years’ experience as a taxidermist only three 
have passed through his hands. G. Smith 
has in twenty years’ experience of bird- 
BEDFORDSHIRE 
catching only taken two specimens, both of 
which were in the neighbourhood of Limbury 
about 1887. The only instance I can as yet 
obtain of this bird having been found nesting 
is from information kindly sent to me by Mr. 
W. Ruskin Butterfield. ‘On the morning 
of 25 May 1896,’ he writes, ‘ whilst in the 
company of my friend Mr. A. Page Page, we 
observed in the parish of Cardington a male 
cirl bunting, and with the aid of a pair of 
field-glasses we watched it some considerable 
time. Later in the day we returned to the 
same place, and I had the satisfaction of flush- 
ing the female from off her nest and four 
eggs ; we watched her and saw her joined by 
the male.’ 
69.’ Reed-Bunting. Emberiza 
Linn. 
Locally, Reed-Sparrow, Black-headed Bunting. 
Fairly common, Throughout the whole 
course of the Ouse, Ivel and other smaller 
streams, pools, disused ballast holes and marshy 
patches of ground, particularly Flitwick 
Moor, this bird will generally be found, 
nesting always in the vicinity. In the winter 
time it is frequently forced to seek sustenance 
further afield, and can then be met with on 
stubble fields and even busy amongst the 
hedges along the roadside, sometimes in small 
parties. Several buff-coloured specimens have 
been obtained. 
scheentclus, 
70. Snow-Bunting. nivalis 
(Linn.) 
An irregular winter visitant, always re- 
stricted in its migratory movements to the 
southern portion of the county, where, in the 
neighbourhood of the chalk hills, such as 
around Barton, Luton and Dunstable, num- 
bers are said to be taken. G. Smith, who 
has had considerable experience as a bird- 
catcher in these localities, speaks of this bird 
as generally appearing in December, when, 
during a continued spell of exceptionally 
severe weather, droves of a hundred or more 
have been known to occur. Writing to me 
in the winters of 1893-4 and 1894-5 he 
stated that this bird had occurred commonly, 
some very good specimens being caught. In 
other parts of the county it appears as a 
very scarce straggler. Of the few that have 
been brought under my notice one was taken 
at Clapham Park, and another at Willing- 
ton, about 1870; both are now in my 
brother’s possession ; a third at Clapham in 
Plectrophenax 
1 The record of the Lapland bunting (Cakarius 
lapponicus) having occurred in Bedfordshire, in the 
Field, 31 January 1874, was an error in identifica- 
tion of the species. 
114 
