CATALOGUE OF BIRDS II5 



must be very familiar to most of us ; the word 

 Hammer originates from the German word 

 "Ammer," which means Bunting. It is pretty 

 widely distributed over the British Islands, extend- 

 ing as far as the Hebrides. The nest, generally 

 placed in hedgerows or bushes, or tangled masses of 

 herbage, often in banks, is composed of a mixture 

 of grass and mosses, with a lining- of fine roots and 

 hair. Eggs — four to five, which are beautifully 

 marked and subject to a good many variations ; to 

 give the best authority, " As a rule they are purplish- 

 white, streaked, spotted, and clouded with reddish- 

 purple, and scrolled with long hair-like markings, 

 from which, in some parts, the bird has acquired the 

 name of Writing- Lark " (H.S.). To people who 

 live in the country this bird shows itself very quickly 

 from the natural habit it has of perching upon the 

 highest point of a hedge, where its gay plumage 

 makes it very conspicuous. The song is not of 

 much account, but the string; of notes to which it 

 gives utterance have been put into words by various 

 ornithologists as sounding like " a-little-bit-of-bread 

 and no c-h-e-e-s-e." In summer the Yellow Bunting 

 feeds on insects, in autumn and winter on wild 

 fruits, seeds, and grain. Habitat abroad: "In 

 Norway up to about 70 N. Latitude, etc. ; south- 

 eastward as far as the upper valley of the Yenesei. 

 In temperate Europe it is generally distributed, 

 except in the northern districts it is resident" (H.S.). 

 The specimens were shot in Surrey or in Radnor- 

 shire. 



