YELLOW BUNTING. 449 



and when deprived of their eggs or young, continue some days 

 about the place, chanting at intervals their dolorous ditty, which, 

 although unaltered in its notes, must doubtless bo meant as an 

 expression of their grief. In some parts of Scotland it is in- 

 terpreted as signifying " Deil, deil, deil take ye,'' that is, the 

 cruel nesters ; and for this reason, probably, the Yellow Bun- 

 ting is named the DeviFs Bird. 



When perched on a tree, especially in windy w^eather, they 

 crouch close to the twigs, draw in their neck, and keep the tail 

 declined. After pairing, the male is frequently seen on a bush 

 or tree, moving his tail by sudden jerks, by whicii it is raised, 

 and at the same time sHghtly expanded. His notes are then 

 usually two chirps followed by a harsher note : chit^ chit^ chirr ^ 

 with considerable intervals. When feeding in the stubble 

 fields, they advance by very short leaps, with their breasts 

 nearly touching the ground ; w^hen apprehensive of danger, 

 crouch motionless ; and when alarmed give intimation to each 

 other by means of their ordinary short note. They are gene- 

 rally more shy than Chaffinches, but less so than the Corn 

 Buntings. 



YouxG. — The young when fledged are dull yellowHsh-brown, 

 streaked with black above, yellowish-grey beneath, the breast 

 and sides streaked w^ith brown. 



Progress toward Maturity. — In young birds after the first 

 moult, no yellow is observable on the head, it being entirely 

 concealed by the brown tips of the feathers, each being streaked 

 with dark brown. The streaks of the back are much broader 

 than in the adult, and the red of the rump less pure, most of 

 the feathers there being centrally streaked. The yellow mar- 

 gins of the quills are less bright, the white spots of the lateral 

 tail-feathers much smaller than in the female. The throat 

 yellow, the cheeks and sides of the neck yellowish-grey, the 

 lower part of the neck, the breast, and the sides dull yellowish- 

 brown, streaked with dusky ; the middle of the abdomen dul- 

 lish yellow ; the lower tail-coverts dusky in the centre. 



