54 MY LIFE AS A NATURALIST 



So that if, as I am informed by a reliable authority, Hitchin 

 has to mourn the loss of some of its famous Nightingales, com- 

 pensation is forthcoming in the presence of the Chiff-Chaff and 

 Hawfinch, to say nothing of the Books and Jackdaws, which are 

 such a feature of the bird-life of the old market town. 



As soon as the pappus-producing plants have gone to seed, 

 then, sure enough, the Linnets make a raid upon them, and con- 

 sume large quantities of the seeds. There is no doubt whatever 

 that this well-known Finch is a most useful bird, and it is 

 fortunate for those who till the soil that such a beneficial species 

 should be so plentiful in our midst. 



Country people still persist in calling the Common Linnet the 

 Brown Linnet, and the Greenfinch the Green Linnet, and there 

 is some amount of reason for them doing so. Both birds are, to 

 a great extent, seed eaters, belonging, of course, to the Finches, 

 which are hard-billed, and, therefore, well adapted for a diet of 

 seeds. The Greenfinch is the more voracious bird of the two, 

 and is particularly fond of the oily seeds of the sunflower. If only 

 one head is permitted to remain in a garden in the Autumn, the 

 Greenfincli will be a regular visitor, and, whilst usually a shy bird, 

 it may, under such conditions, be watched at fairly close quarters. 



When the Yellow Bunting commences to utter its simple little 

 strain again, Nature is " marking time," as it were, previous to 

 the great season of fruiting, and it is pleasant to listen to the 

 Yellow Yeorling, as this bird is called in Scotland, uttering so 

 persistently its oft-repeated ditty of : 



A little bit of bread and no cheese ! 



Its cousin, the Corn Bunting, also gives voice late in the year, 

 but it is a poor effort, even compared with the plaintive strain 

 of the Yellow Bunting. The Corn Bunting sings a muddled 

 medley of notes which strike the ear somewhat harshly, although 

 not altogether unpleasant. It is a wheezy, long-drawn-out song, 

 which cannot fail to arrest attention in districts that the bird 

 frequents. 



When flying, the Corn Bunting carries its legs hanging low 

 down, producing a curious effect when seen for the first time. 

 It is a common bird in North Hertfordshire, and I have counted 

 as many as a dozen to twenty male birds singing within a mile or 

 so. Yet, curious to relate, in Mid-Herts, around my old home 

 at St Albans, I very rarely came across the Corn Bunting, and 

 my first acquaintance with it was made years ago in Norfolk. 



