The Yellow Bunting. 63 



The female of this species is rather smaller than the male, 

 and the yellow of her plumage is so covered up with red 

 that it is scarcely seen. The young bear a general resem- 

 blance to their mother, but, even in the nest, the males have 

 a little yellow on the head. 



Like all the rest of the Bunting family, the Yellow-hammer, 

 or ammer, le Bruant of the Prench, der Goldammer of the 

 Germans, and Einberha citrinella of Linnaeus, lives, in its 

 wild state, almost entirely on insects, scarcely ever touching 

 seeds as long as it- can find anything else; but in winter, 

 for it stays with us all the year round, it will eat anything 

 it comes across, even wheat and oats, and consequently during 

 a severe and inclement season it is as common a visitant of 

 the farm-yard as the Sparrow. 



The young of these birds are brought up exclusively on 

 insects, chiefly caterpillars, of which vast numbers are con- 

 sumed every year during the breeding season, so that the 

 Yellow-hammers are very good friends indeed to the farmer, 

 who ought not, in consideration of the services thus rendered, 

 grudge them the few grains of corn they pilfer from his 

 stacks, when the severity of the weather renders it impossible 

 for them to find any of their favourite food. 



In the house the Yellow-hammer will not endure for long 

 on an exclusively seed diet, which should be varied by the 

 addition of yolk of hard-boiled eg^, mealworms, ants' eggs, 

 and any kind of insects that are procurable, and the 8eed 

 supplied is rendered more easy of digestion by being soaked 

 in cold water for some hours before being given to the little 

 prisoner; it is better, however, to keep it in a large garden 

 aviary than in a cage, for in addition to the fact that it will 

 thrive better in the former situation, it will frequently breed 

 there, and its quaint little song, resembling the words ''A 

 little bit of bread and no cheese", will be heard more fre- 

 quently and to much greater advantage in the aviary tlian 

 in the cage, where it will also more perfectly maintain the 



