90 BIRDS' EGGS 



A bird with a very evil name, totally 

 undeserved, is the Yellowhammer, or Yellow 

 Bunting (Erriberiza citrinella), called in Scot- 

 land the 'Deil's Bird.' No one who has 

 walked in the country can fail to remember 

 the peculiar plaintive song of this bird, as it 

 perched upon bushes on the roadside, flitting 

 before the pedestrian as he proceeded. It 

 nests under a bank, beneath a bush, or in a 

 clump of grass. The nest is constructed of 

 grass stems and hair, and contains four or five 

 grey eggs (Plate VI., Fig. 10), streaked and 

 speckled in a most peculiar manner with dark 

 reddish-brown. 



The Greenfinch (Ligurinus chloris) is one of 

 our most common birds, and may be known 

 by the yellowish-green feathers on the head 

 and back. It nests in a low, thick bush, using 

 fibrous roots, moss or wool, lining it with hair 

 and feathers. It lays four to six eggs (Plate 

 VI., Fig. 11), of a bluish-green, sprinkled 

 with reddish-brown spots, especially at the 

 larger end. 



In my youth, we in the North used to 

 consider the Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) a rare 

 bird ; now it is not uncommon. It chooses for 



