BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



YELLOW HAMMER ON 

 NEST. 



YELLOW HAMMER. Also YELLOW BUNTING. 



(Emberiza cifrinula.) 

 Order PASSERES ; Family EMBERIZID^E (BUNTINGS). 



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 with greenish-yellow ; rump bright chest- 

 nut ; tail slightly forked, 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 some- 

 times 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 tail 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, but lack the black of the 

 male, and the yellowish-brown of the female Cirl 

 Bunting under the chin. 



Situation and Locality. On or near the ground, 



