446 EMBERIZID.E. 



more than once, says it is a visiter, though a rare one, to both 

 countries, but is only to be seen during- the winter season. It 

 inhabits Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, and is found over 

 the European Continent from thence to the Mediterranean. 



I have ventured to restore to this bird what I believe to 

 have been its first English name, Yellow Ammer, although 

 it appears to have been printed Yellow Ham, and Yellow 

 Hammer, from the days of Dr. AVm. Turner and Merrett to 

 the present time. The word Ammer is a well-known Ger- 

 man term for Bunting in very common use ; thus Bechstcin 

 employs the names Schnee-ammer, Grau-ammer, Rohr-am- 

 mer, Garten-ammer, and Gold-ammer, for our Snow Bunt- 

 ing, Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting, Ortolan, or Garden 

 Buntins:, and Yellow Bunting:. Prefixing the letter H to 

 the word appears to be unnecessary, and even erroneous, as 

 suggesting a notion which has no reference to any known 

 habit or quality in the bird.* 



The adult male in summer has the beak of a bluish horn 

 colour ; the palatine knob less conspicuous than in the Com- 

 mon Bunting ; the irides dark brown ; the head, cheeks, ear- 

 coverts, and nape of the neck, bright lemon-yellow, varied 

 with a few dusky black patches, that are most conspicuous at 

 the boundary of the ear-coverts ; the upper ])art of the back 

 and wings reddish brown, tinged with yellow, each feather 

 having a dark brown patch at its centre ; the wing primaries 

 dusky black, with narrow external edges of bright yellow ; 

 the secondaries, tertials, and both sets of wing-coverts, dusky 

 black, broadly margined with rich chestnut brown ; upper tail- 

 coverts reddish chestnut, edged with yellow ; the central pair 

 of tail-feathers shorter than the others, and dusky black, 

 edged Avith chestnut, and tinged with yellow ; the five next 



* Gesner derives the generic term Emberiza from Embrix, wiiich, according 

 to Adelung, is rendered by the word /Emyrian in Saxon, Amerin in Dutch, 

 Emtner in Danish, and Eimyria in Icelandic ; the most likely sources of deri- 

 vation, therefore, it will be observed, are without the prefixed consonant. 



