YELLOW BUNTLNG. 



PASSE RES. 



43 



EMBERIZID.K. 



Emberiza citrinella, Linngeus*. 



THE YELLOW BUNTING. 



Emheriza citrinella. 



This handsome bird is one of our commonest species, and 

 is conspicuous, in summer particularly, by frequenting almost 

 every hedge-row or furzy common, flying from one low tree 

 to another, or from bush to bush, in front of the by-passer. 

 The brilliancy of the cock's plumage might claim for the 

 Yellow Hammerf, to use its best-known name, much greater 



• Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 309 (1766). 



f In former Editions of this work the Author strove to restore what he 

 believed to have been the first English name of this bird — Yellow Ammer. As 

 might be expected in such a case, custom, whether right or wrong, would not give 

 way to the proposed amendment, and Yellow Hammer, with its abbreviation Yellow 

 Ham, have been commonly printed from the days of Turner (154:4) and Merrett 

 (1667) to the present time. There can indeed be no question of " Hammer " (in 

 this sense) being strictly cognate with the German Ammer, but it would seem 

 that prefixing the letter H to the word is not wholly an English peculiarity, since 

 there is some ground for believing that Hammer, which now survives in Ilarn- 

 merling, was equally with Ammir a Teutonic form. Another early spelling of 

 this word in both languages was " Amber," used in 1668 by Charletou (Onoma- 



