TIII: ir.u.ow 0t \ i \utntL 



i 



thrush falls a victim t<> the birdwatcher, and passes the remainder of it* life cooped in the 

 narrow precincts <if a cage. 



Hi. song if it may so be called of the l.inl is net in th minor key, and has a peculiar 

 intonation, which is almost urti.-ul.it.'. and is variously ren.l.-i.-.!. For example, it ia well 

 rvprvsent.-.l Ly the words, --A linl,- Lit of Lread and o cheeaet" the last syllable but one 

 being strongly accented. In Scotland it assumes a sense quit*- in accordance with the character 

 of ita surroundings, and i- supimsad to say, M l-'il. d.-'il. d.-'il / u revenge for 



the sentiment by which the Linl is supposed to be actuated, the rustics per- 

 little cn-atiuv :n,,>t shamefully, killing the im>nts, breaking the egg* und destrovini: the 

 nests, wh.-n.'x. i i hey can find au opiHirtunity. Mr. 'riioin|Mion says that, t.i lii> i-ap.. tin- 

 cry of the Yellow Bunting is of a mournful character, in which opinion I cannot at all agree 

 \Niih him, having many a time been cheered by the odd littl.- ton.-s t hut were poured forth 

 close to my ear. 



The nest of the Yellow Bunting in generally planed upon or very close to the earth, und 



/ T 



V s 



TELLOW Bumnifa, UK YKIXUW 



the best place to seek for th<> structure, is the bottom of a hedge, where the grass has been 

 allowed to grow freely, and the ground has been well drained by the ditch. In rustic parlance, 

 a "rough gripe" is flu- i>lac.- \\li.-n-in to look for tin- Y.-llow A miner's nest. It is a n-aily- 

 built edifice, compos^l chi.-tly of grasses, and lim-<l with hair. The eggs are five in niinilx-r. 

 and their color is whit.-, with a dash of very pale purple, and dott-d and scribbled all over 

 with dark purple-brown. Both dots and lin>* an- most variaLl.-, and it also frequently hap- 

 pens that an egg ap;-ars with hardly a mark UJMIII it. wliil,- others in tin- s,-im- rn-st an-t-ntjii-ly 

 covered with the qBSint-lookiag' deootmtioos. < Jem-rally thi- nest is Lnilt later than tli 

 most small Linls. Lut then- :m- instances when it has been completed and the five eggs laid as 

 early as January, or even Decemlier. 



Both parents are stmndy attach.il to >~.\r\\ other and to th.-ir youn^. :md during th<- 1:M 

 few days of incubation the mother Linl U-cornes so feaiiem that she \\ill sit in h-r nest even 

 when sh.- i- lis<-<iv.-re<l. and in some in-tuncee has even sufTered herself to be touched b-foiv 

 she would leave her charge. 



