YELLOW HAMMER. 161 
of the genus which shows so much yellow on the head, and has at the same 
time a yellow throat and belly. 
If the Yellow Hammer was not so common, its varied and brilliant 
dress would be far more highly appreciated than it is; but as it crowns 
almost every bush and hedgerow, we are apt to pass it by with the most 
cursory of glances. Its favourite haunts are well-cultivated districts, 
fields, country lanes, and commons; but it is by no means a scarce bird 
near the moorlands, on wild upland pastures, and on the patches of broken 
rocky ground locally known as “roughs,” thick with bilberry and heath 
and with a sprinkling of stunted thorns and gorse bushes, a few mountain- 
ashes, and silver birches. It is not an inhabitant of woods, but frequents 
their borders, and is common in well-timbered districts if there be plenty 
of open ground between the trees. The monotonous song of the Yellow 
Hammer in early spring often directs attention to the bird, and it may be 
seen sitting on the topmost spray of a hawthorn just bursting into leaf. Its 
yellow and brown plumage glistens in the bright sunlight as the bird flicks its 
tail a little uneasily; then, uttering its harsh long-drawn chich, it flits in 
drooping flight to safer quarters, spreading out its tail like a fan the moment 
before it alights ; another monotonous chich is uttered, then the bird pours 
forth his oft-repeated song. There is nothing particularly sweet in his strains, 
but there is something about them that has a great charm in the opening 
year, and lends a sense of life to the surrounding scenery. The song consists 
of one note repeated several times in quick succession, concluding with two 
others drawn out to a considerable length. Sometimes these finishing notes 
are omitted, as if the bird were alarmed before he could finish his song, 
The reason, however, is very often because a rival makes a sudden appear- 
ance, and, without waiting to finish, he darts like lightning from his perch to 
chase and give battle to the intruder. The Yellow Hammer in the pairing- 
season is a most excitable little bird, and two males may repeatedly be 
seen chasing each other with great rapidity through the branches. At this 
season the call-note of the male is chich, chich, churr. The Yellow 
Hammer is a most pertinacious songster; what he lacks in quality he 
makes up in quantity, and throughout the summer his music is heard in 
untiring strains. No other bird sings so late into the autumn, except the 
Robin and the Wren. He commences early in February, and continues 
in song until September. When singing he usually perches on some 
conspicuous place on a hedge, a wall, or a tree, or sometimes even on the 
ground; and there, if not disturbed, he will sit for a considerable time 
singing lustily at intervals, and being answered by the other Yellow 
Hammers in the vicinity, Although the song is not very loud, it may be 
heard at a long distance. 
The Yellow Hammer pairs in the middle of March, but is nevertheless 
a somewhat late breeder, and eggs are seldom laid before the middle, or 
VOL Il. M 
