i 80 IN FLIGHT TIME 
and stomach. The birds of the year resemble small 
parrots, for their plumage, which is very like that of a 
dull-coloured greenfinch, is now broken into by some 
of the markings of the old birds. As the winter draws 
near, they will form small families of ten or a dozen, 
as the case may be, and three or four families in a 
bunch, to range for miles over all the rough as well 
as the cultivated parts of the land, returning to their 
resting-places in the evening. To a certain extent 
this bird is local ; this being influenced, no doubt, by 
the food supply. Wild fruits and berries are their 
portion. 
The corn-bunting I have only met with twice in 
this district during a period of twenty-five years. I 
put it up then from some rough ' torey ' grass which 
was dotted over with thorn bushes. 
Linnets frequent the fields in flocks, so do yellow- 
hammers. If you stand perfectly still you can watch 
them feed. A great quantity of grain, both wheat and 
oats, is scattered about over the ground after the 
crops have been carried ; but these grains, while they 
last, only form a portion of their daily food. The seeds 
of weeds, which are the pests of the farmer, are what 
they subsist on mainly ; which diet is varied by cer- 
tain insects, on which they prey in all stages of their 
life. It is a fact well known to naturalists that all 
