Tlic C'ui Btiiiliiig. 
35 
turf some days later 1 found slic liad laid the lirst ej^i^. Tlie 
Nocond was laid after the interval of one day. There was hardlv 
any nest, only a scrai)e lined with a few twij^s and straws. The 
e,;.i:;s \\ ei (' incubated foi 5 days wlicn they were deserted, i '.n a ^ 
very disappointed over tliis failure, but in a fevv weeks she laid 
ai^ain, and this time incubated steadily. The et^^gs were almost 
due to hatch atid my hopes were very iii^h when we had the 
heaviest floods we have had for years. We put .a tarpaulir, 
over the top of the aviary but it was no use. The poor bird 
was flooded out of her hole in a verv short time and my hopes 
were dashed to the ground. Aly Ringneck Parrakeets which 
were incubating a clutch of three eggs had the same fate. A 
short time afterwards my hen .Stock Dove died, and although 
I tried hard to replace her I was unsuccessful. 
There is a small colony of Stock Doves near my home, 
and if 1 can hand-rear some this year I shall have another try 
at breeding them. 
I wonder if everyone who is fond of birds has his favour- 
ites ? I have mine, and I often wonder why some birds should 
give me greater delight than others. Of English birds my 
favourites are the Greater Spotted Woodpecker, the Cirl 
Bunting, and, I think, the Lesser Whitethroat. My weakness 
for the Greater Spotted Woodpecker may perhaps be because 
1 possessed and loved a very tame one, which would cry out 
with excitement the moment it saw me at the top of my garden 
and would scramble about all over me and actually get inside my 
coat pockets hunting for some tit-bit that might be hiding there. 
In Kngland I have only known a few places wdiere the 
Cirl Bunting was to be found, chiefly in the Isle of Wight. And 
it is remarkable how the Cirl Bunting remains in one locality. 
In France, when my division came out to " rest," I would go 
The Cirl Bunting. 
(Emberiza cirlus). 
By Philip Gosse. 
