Page:VCH Bedfordshire 1.djvu/154

 A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 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 miliaria, 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. Emberiza citrinella, Linn. A very common resident and generally dis- tributed. 68. Cirl Bunting. Emberiza 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 (Zoologist 1 87 1). 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- 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.' J 69. 1 Reed-Bunting. Emberiza scbaeniclus 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. 70. Snow-Bunting. Plectrophenax 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 1 The record of the Lapland bunting (Calcarius lappomcus) having occurred in Bedfordshire, in the Field, 31 January 1874, was an error in identifica- tion of the species. 114