THE ORTOLAN. 



403 



to keep out of reach of any missile. So, in walking along a country- 

 lane, the passenger is often preceded by one or more of these birds, 

 which always keeps about seventy or eighty yards in advance, and flutters 

 in and out of the hedges or trees with a peculiar and unmistakable flirt 

 of the wings and tail. 



The song — if it may be so called — of the bird has a peculiar intona- 

 tion, which is almost articulate, and is variously rendered in different 

 parts of England. For example, among 

 the southern counties it is well repre- 

 sented by the words, "A little bit of 

 bread and no che-ee-ee-ee-se !" In Scot- 

 land it assumes a sense quite in accord- 

 ance with the character of its auditors, 

 and is supposed to say, " De'il, de'il, de'il 

 take ye-ee-ee-ee." 



The nest of the Yellow Bunting is gen- 

 erally placed upon or very close to tiie 

 earth, and the best place to seek for the 

 structure is the bottom of a hedge where The Yellow Hammer {Em- 

 the grass has been allowed to grow freely benza citnndla). 



and the ground has been well drained by the ditch. In rustic parlance, 

 a " rough gripe " is the place wherein to look for the Yellow Hammer's 

 nest. It is a neatly-built edifice, composed chiefly of grasses and lined 

 with hair. The eggs are five in number, and their color is white with 

 a dash of very pale purple, and dotted and scribbled all over with 

 dark purple-brown. Both dots and lines are most variable, and it also 

 frequently happens that an e^g appears with hardly a mark upon it, 

 while others in the same nest are entirely covered with the quaint- 

 looking decorations. 



The general color of this bird is bright yellow, variegated with 

 patches of dark brown, and having a richly-mottled brownish yellow 

 on the back, with a decided warm ruddy tinge. The primary feathers 

 of the wing are black edged with yellow, and the remainder of the 

 feathers throughout, with all the wing-coverts, are deep brown-black 

 edged with ruddy brown. The chin, throat, and all the under parts 

 of the body are bright pure yellow, sobering into rusty brown on the 

 flanks. The female is similarly marked, but is not so brilliant in her 

 hues. The total length of the bird is about seven inches. 



The Ortolan, or Garden Bunting, is widely celebrated for the 

 delicacy of its flesh, or rather for that of its fat, the fat of the Ortolan 

 being somewhat analogous to the green fat of the turtle in the opinion 

 of gourmands. 



The Ortolan has occasionally been shot in England, but it is most 

 frequently found on the Continent, Avhere its advent is expected with 



