38 TELLOW-HAMMEE. 



winter months with flocks of other species, as well as of their 

 own. They roost generally on the ground, and you may see 

 them in the dusk of the evening, when they are retiring to 

 rest, flitting about in numbers on the sides of banks, disturbed 

 by your approach. In very cold weather they are said to 

 seek for the night the shelter of bushes, ivy, and shrubs, as 

 a protection against the 'cauld blast,' which the houseless and 

 homeless wanderer instinctively shrinks from encountering on 

 the wide heath, the solitary moor, or the lonely road; when 

 it is a 



'Winter's evening, 

 And fast falls down the snow.' 



The male bird is carefully attentive to the female when 

 engaged during the period of incubation with her maternal 

 duties, brings her food, and takes his turn in sitting upon 

 the eggs. They have a habit, when perched, of flirting the 

 tail up and down, when it is also slightly expanded. Both 

 shew much affection for their young, and in many cases, if 

 not in all, the parent birds keep in company throughout the 

 winter, frequently with their family also. Even when large 

 flocks are collected together in hard weather, it is very pro- 

 bable that the members of the different families are still united 

 to each other in some degree, and so continue until in the 

 following season they disperse to become the several heads of 

 families themselves. Like others of their tribe, these birds 

 occasionally dust themselves in the roads, and at such times, 

 and indeed frequently at others, may be approached quite 

 closely. They are reckoned good eating, and great quantities 

 are taken on the continent for the purpose. Meyer possessed 

 one which continued for several weeks to feed a young Cuckoo, 

 which had been placed in the same cage in which it was kept; 

 and it did this, not with that food which it took by choice 

 itself, but with that which was most congenial to the voracious 

 appetite of its adopted child. 



Their flight is strong, quick, and undulated, and they alight 

 suddenly and unexpectedly, displaying the feathers of the tail 

 at the time. They move along the ground, when feeding, 

 by a series of very short leaps, in a horizontal position, with 

 the breast nearly touching the ground. When perched, the 

 tail is much deflected, hanging down as if the bird were 

 listless, and this attitude is often continued for some time. 



Their food consists of grain and other seeds, and occasion- 



