18 BRITISH BIRDS 



bright yellow margins to the inner secondaries and tail- 

 feathers. 



Nest. Place : long grass, furze, or low bushes on commons 

 or downs. Material : grass, roots, stalks, &c., lined with finer 

 material, usually grass. 



Eggs. Usually 4-6. Rather variable in colour. Usually 

 greyish or yellowish-white with lines, streaks, and spots of 

 dark brown and under-markings of pale violet. Rare varieties 

 are pure white or tinged reddish-brown. Av. size, *95 x "69 in. 

 Laying begins June- July, sometimes May. Broods 1-2. 



24. Yellow-bunting or Yellow-hammer [Emberiza citri- 

 nella Linnaeus]. Resident and common. 



Bird. Length 6*50 in. Distinguished by the lemon-yellow 

 head, neck, and under-parts, and by the chestnut rump. The 

 yellow on the head, neck, and forebreast 

 is banded with dark greenish-yellow 

 (Fig. 16). The under-parts are streaked 

 with chestnut. Mantle and wing-coverts 

 dull red, striped black. The two outer 

 tail-feathers on each side have white 

 patches. Female and young much less 

 brilliant, and have the crown dull olive- 

 brown, streaked black. 



Nest. Place : usually on or near the ground in hedges, 

 bushes, or banks. Occasionally in hay-stacks. Material: 

 grasses, bents, a little moss or leaves, lined with horse-hair. 



Eggs. Usually 3-5. Pale purplish-white scrawled and 

 streaked with dark brown, with a few fainter violet markings. 

 Rare varieties have a white, also a reddish ground. Av. size, 

 83 x '62 in. Laying begins April-May. Broods 2-3. 



25. Girl-bunting [Emberiza cirlus Linnseus]. In England 

 and Wales local and more or less stationary. Absent N. Eng- 

 land. Very rare in Scotland and Ireland. 



Bird. Length 6J in. Like the yellow-hammer, but distin- 

 guished by the black throat and lores, and the olive-green 

 rump. Below the black of the throat is a bright yellow band, 

 followed by a sage-green band^ and reddish-brown stripes on 

 the flanks. Belly yellow. Crown and nape olive-green with 

 black streaks, mantle chestnut. The female has the throat 

 pale yellow striated with black. Distinguished from the 

 female yellow-hammer by the olive-green rump. 



Nest. As the yellow-hammer. 



Eggs. Usually 3-5. Pale bluish or greenish-white with the 

 markings bolder and darker, as a rule, than those of the yellow- 

 hammers, which they sometimes resemble very closely. Av. 

 size, "83 x *63 in. Laying begins in May. Broods 1-2. 



