122 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



winter it undoubtedly wanders, and is met with as a casual 

 visitor in various parts of the country. 



When editing the 4th edition of Yarrell's 'British Birds,' 

 Prof. Newton wrote, in the article upon this bird (vol. ii. p. 52) : — 

 "Its peculiar sporadic distribution in the breeding season deserves 

 far greater attention than has yet been paid thereto, and at present 

 its preference for certain localities is wholly unaccountable." 

 The present paper is the result of an attempt to work out that 

 distribution. With this end in view, I asked, through ' The 

 Field' newspaper and the pages of ' The Zoologist' (1891, p. 190), 

 for information on the British distribution of this bird, and I now 

 take this opportunity of thanking the numerous naturalists who 

 kindly responded to my request. I have here endeavoured to 

 bring together the published records relating to the Cirl Bunting 

 in this country, and have supplemented them by the informa- 

 tion obtained from correspondents, and that already in my 

 possession. 



It is impossible to give at all an accurate idea of the distri- 

 bution of this bird without tendering the whole of the evidence 

 obtained ; but it may be convenient to state shortly that the Girl 

 Bunting breeds regularly and commonly (but often locally) in 

 Cornwall, Devon, West Somerset (rare in the East), Dorset, 

 Hants (including the Isle of Wight), and Sussex (most commonly 

 on the coast). It is also resident, but less common, in Wilts, 

 Gloucester, Hereford, Worcester, Kent, Surrey, Berks, Middlesex, 

 Herts, Oxon, Bucks, Warwick, and Bedford, being better repre- 

 sented in the first seven of this second group of counties than in 

 the remainder, and local in all— e. g. in Oxon, where it is almost 

 confined to the south. Elsewhere evidence of its residence is less 

 satisfactory, but it has been observed in summer in Shropshire 

 and Northamptonshire, and it has even bred in Yorkshire. As a 

 winter, or casual, visitor it is recorded from Norfolk, Essex, 

 Lincoln, Leicester, Notts, Derby, and Lancashire (where it is 

 supposed to have bred). Its rarity on the east side of England 

 is noteworthy — especially in view of the close attention which for 

 many years has been paid to the Ornithology of some of the 

 counties of East Anglia— and it is unrecorded from Suffolk, 

 Cambridgeshire, and Hunts. There is no satisfactory instance 

 of its occurrence in Cheshire, and it is unknown in Northumber- 

 land, Durham, Cumberland, and Westmoreland. 





