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(Emberiza Cirlus, Linn.—Le Bruant de haie ou Zizi, Buff.)
LENGTH above six inches. Bill brown; the chin and throat dull black; upper part of the head and hinder part of the neck olive green; each feather streaked to the tip with dusky lines; the sides of the neck and breast yellowish green; the eyes are bedded in a dusky line; a yellow streak passes from above and beneath them; the auriculars the same colour; from behind these a yellow gorget falls down over the fore part of the neck to the breast; back and scapulars reddish bay, which is spread over each side of the lower part of the breast; the feathers of the first are slightly streaked and tipped with dusky, and all edged with a lighter shade; the lesser coverts are ash grey; the greater partake of that colour, but are tinged on the outer webs with pale brown, and on the inner with dusky; the quills and tail dusky, with pale edges; the two outside feathers of the latter are the longest, and their inner webs have each a stripe of white from a part of their shafts to their tips; the belly is yellow, with some dusky stripes towards the sides; the legs are tinged with pale reddish brown.
Latham says that these birds are found only in the warmer parts of France and Italy, but Montagu made them out to be British birds. Our figure is from a well preserved specimen presented to the Newcastle Museum, by Mr Henry Mewburn, of St German's, Cornwall, where it was shot in 1822. This gentleman has besides ascertained that they breed in that neighbourhood, frequenting woods and high trees, and like the Common Bunting, generally perching near the top. They lay four or five greyish eggs, spotted and streaked with black.
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