188 THE YELLOW-HAMMER. 



which the bird feels in Tropical forests is not felt to the 

 same extent in our quiet and secure groves. 



In Great Britain we have several species of Buntings — 

 handsome birds, but of a somewhat hea^^ build of body, 

 with a strong, swift, undulatory flight. Tliey move on the 

 ground in a succession of short leaps, retiring to trees and 

 thickets when alarmed, and roosting on the ground or on 

 low bushes. 



Well known in every part of the country is the graceful 

 little Yellow-hammer, or Yeldring, with its coat of diflerent 

 shades of yellow, warmed with red on the back and breast, 

 and relieved by black-tipped plumes. It frequents the 

 bushes and low underwoods, and the willowy banks of 

 brooks and ponds, where it builds its bulky nest of coarse 

 grasses and small tAvigs, lined with fine grass, fibrous roots, 

 and hair. The eggs, oval in shape, and of a purplish-white 

 colour, are marked with streaks and dots so like written 

 characters, that the bird is sometimes called the Writing 

 Lark. It cannot claim comparison with the lark, how^- 

 ever, as a singer ; for, in truth, its song is monotonous, 

 and almost harsh, and is limited to one constantly-repeated 

 strain of two or three notes. Mudie says : — " It is a bird 

 of the fields and the daylight, offending in nothing, except 

 the want of song be an offence ; and certainly not so dis- 

 agreeable in that way, or so destructive of small seeds in 

 gardens, as the house-sparrow; but still it is a marked 

 bird, and the very beauty of its eggs is, in some places, 

 made a ground for their wanton destruction. According 

 to the absurd superstition, the parent birds are fed each 



