100 THE BIRDS OF SHERWOOD FOREST. 



yellowhammer, but harsher, being all its accomplish- 

 ments. 



But the Yellow Bunting (E. citrinella) is by far the 

 most common species ; it throngs every hedge and bush, 

 and you cannot go many yards in the cultivated dis- 

 tricts without seeing several. It delights to roll itself 

 in the dust on the roads in summer time, and with 

 such vigour that it raises quite a cloud. Its flight is a 

 very broken one, a mere series of flittings, seldom con- 

 tinued for any distance. It is a handsome bird, though 

 subject to variation in the markings, some having the 

 yellow of the neck and breast much brighter and more 

 unmarked than the others. I have seen one which had 

 the whole of the head and neck a bright, clear yellow, 

 entirely devoid of the usual olive-brown markings 

 most likely a sign of age. Its call, for it cannot be en- 

 titled a song, is very monotonous, and is well described 

 by Bechstein by the syllables " tee, tee," repeated rapidly 

 six or seven times, and ending with the more prolonged 

 note "tehee." 



It usually places its nest on the ground, the bank of 

 a hedgerow being a favourite situation, and once or 

 twice I have seen it placed on the thick lower branches 

 of the hedge itself. The eggs sometimes differ remark- 

 ably in size, some nests containing one or two very much 

 smaller than the rest. I have one I took out of a nest 

 where the others were the ordinary size, which is only 

 about half their dimensions. 



The nest is composed externally of grass and fine 

 roots, but internally it is a thick mass of hair, chiefly 

 cowhair, and in form is very shallow. I have taken one 

 which was the smallest possible remove from being 



