366 BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



YELLOW-HAMMER. Also Yellow Bunting. 



' Description of Parent Birds. — Length about seven 

 inches. Bill short, strong, and bluish, horn colour, 

 tinged with brown. Irides dark brown. There are 

 a few short bristles round the base of the bill. Head 

 and nape yellow, tinged with green, and marked 

 on the crown with a few streaks of dusky black 

 and olive. Back bright reddish-brown, tinged with 

 yellowish-green. Wing-quills dusky, bordered wdth 

 greenish-yellow ; rump bright chestnut ; tail slightly 

 forkedj dusky black, edged with greenish-yellow, 

 the two outer feathers being marked with white 

 spots. Throat, breast, belly, and under tail-coverts 

 bright yellow, the breast being sometimes marked 

 with reddish spots, and the sides streaked. Legs, 

 toes, and claws yellowish-brown. 



The female is a trifle smaller, and much duller 

 in her plumage. She is less yellow, and more thickly 

 marked with brown. Her teil is also lighter, and 

 has less white on the outsides. I have often been 

 struck by her close harmonisation with surrounding 

 objects when her nest is on the ground. Both sexes 

 are subject to variation. 



Situation and Locality. — On or near the ground, 

 although specimens may sometimes be found at a 

 height of eight or ten feet. In hedgebanks, amongst 

 brambles, nettles, and coarse grass at the foot of 

 light oj^en bushes. Our illustration is from a 

 photograph taken in Norfolk. On pieces of waste 

 land, commons, pastures, grass-fields, and arable 

 lands, in all suitable localities throughout the 

 United Kingdom. 



Materials. — Dry grass, roots, and moss, with an 



