°iSg6 J J Hoffmann, Summer Birds of the Rhine. ^o? 



resembling, to a considerable degree, that of the Purple Finch, 

 though perhaps a trifle stronger. In the streets and in the roads 

 the Chaffinch picked up seeds, insects, or fallen refuse. 



In an open air restaurant at Heidelberg, I amused myself by 

 throwing crumbs to the Chaffinches, who approached often to 

 within a foot or two of my chair, but their bread was often 

 snatched from their mouths by the more vigorous, if less welcome 

 Sparrows. 



At evening the parks or open spaces in the cities resounded with 

 the call notes of this bird, jink, fink, and a peculiar skree, skree. 

 From their call note comes their German name, ' Finke ', and the 

 English, Finch. 



They are resident, and for part of the winter the males sep- 

 arate from the females. 



Yellow-hammer (Emberiza citrinetta). 



This is a bird of the fields and hillsides, especially in the 

 neighborhood of farms. He feeds on insects and in winter on 

 seeds. He is not shy, and not as restless as the Chaffinch. The 

 Yellow-hammer was perhaps the freeest singer in July, and was 

 still singing in August ; in fact he reminded me of the Indigo-bird 

 in his fondness for hot exposed situations, railroad embankments 

 and even telegraph wires. Everywhere his deliberate song rose at 

 regular intervals through the quivering air. The song is not loud 

 but carries a surprising distance, and has something of the Grass- 

 hopper Sparrow's quality. It may be imitated by the syllables 

 zi, zi, zi draft. 



The bird nests near the ground and raises two broods. He is 

 a winter resident. 



Skylark (Alauda arvensis) . 



The Lark and the Blackcap were still in full song in the middle 

 of July, though both ceased singing in August. The grainfields 

 of the Rhine and Neckar valleys stretched in what seemed to my 

 New England eye a tremendous expanse of yellow waves. Among 

 these, from morning till night, the Larks rose, sang and descended 



