172 BIEDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 



but duller; cheeks and ear-coverts dull yellowish 

 brown, spotted with darker; throat dull yellow, 

 spotted with black ; breast dull olive, spotted and 

 streaked with dusky ; under parts dull dirty yellow, 

 streaked mostly on the flanks with dusky. The 

 young birds resemble the female.* The adult male 

 cannot easily be mistaken for any other bird, but 

 the young birds and the females may easily be mis- 

 taken for Yellowhammers ; the olive-green, however, 

 on the head and tail-coverts will always distinguish 

 them. 



The eggs are very much like those of the Yellow- 

 hammer, but rather smaller, of a dull whitish brown, 

 tinged with blue and scrawled all over with dusky. 



This is the last of the buntings which I have been 

 able to include in this list. All the species in this 

 family appear to be useful, and also, to a certain 

 extent, mischievous to man, punishing, no doubt, 

 his growing crops, especially round the hedges, and, 

 as has been before mentioned, occasionally damaging 

 his ricks ; but this damage is the fault of the farmer 

 himself for putting his ricks loosely and carelessly 

 together. The grain picked up in the stubble-fields, 

 of course, I do not consider mischief; but grain, 

 however obtained, is by no means the only food of 

 these birds, as the old birds feed to a considerable 



* See Yarrell, vol. i., p. 524. 



