EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 258 



the large end of the egg. The underlying spots arc generally 

 small and indistinct, and violet-grey in colour. Some eggs have 

 the ground-colour dull white, and the markings are more of a 

 reddish-brown. They vary from 092 to 08 inch in length, and 

 from 0-7 to O'ti inch in breadth. The markings on the eggs of 

 the Cirl Bunting are much darker (almost black) than those on 

 the eggs of the Yellow Hammer, and in shape are much rounder 

 and blunter. 



THE YELLOW HAMMEK. 

 {Emberiza citrinella.) 



Plate 58, Figs. 3, i. 



The Yellow Hammer is by far the commonest and most widely- 

 dispersed of all our native Buntings. Its range is somewhat 

 similar to that of the Corn Bunting, but extends further to the 

 north and east, and not quite so far to the south. 



The nest, although somewhat slight, is well put together, and 

 is made of dry grasses and a little moss, and lined with fibrous 

 roots and horsehair. 



The eggs are four or five in number, purplish-white in ground- 

 colour, streaked, spotted and dashed with rich purplish-brown. 

 The underlying markings, which are very numerous on some 

 eggs, are pearly-grey. The eggs vary considerably : some are dull 

 purplish-brown in ground-colour, faintly streaked and scratched 

 with brown ; others are so thickly pencilled as to form an 

 irregular network over the entire surface ; whilst a clutch of 

 three in my collection are almost uniformly clouded with pale 

 brown, over which are a few dark streaks. The streaks vary in 

 breadth: some of them are finer than the finest hairs; others 

 are very broad ; and all are distributed in the most irregular 

 manner, here and there appearing in a tangled mass, connected 

 together by one or two bold lines. The eggs vary in length from 

 0-95 to 0'8 inch, and in breadth from 0"69 to - 6 inch. Yellow 

 Hammers' eggs may be readily distinguished from those of the 

 Cirl Bunting — the only eggs with which they are at all likely to 

 be confused— by their much more purple colour. The eggs of 

 the Cirl Bunting are much greener, the spots are generally more 

 bold and decided, and the thin streaks are not so numerous. 



