18 



GRAMIXIVOILE. 



The female has the yellow on the head and under part less 

 bright, partially marked with a greyish tinge on the former, 

 and with brownish orange on the latter. The bill of the 

 female is also more dusky, and the feet not so yellow a brown. 

 The males, in their first plumage, resemble the female. The 

 female, though not so rich in plumage as the male, is yet a 

 very beautiful bird. The brown upon the back is peculiarly 

 warm, and the pale yellow and darker tints on the other 

 parts run very softly into each other, while the markings on 

 the back are clear and distinct, without any approach to 

 hardness. 



The yellow bunting is a bird of the corn-fields, or at least 

 of the richer parts of the country ; and though it is very 

 common in England and the greater part of Scotland, it is 

 not found in the Orkney or Shetland isles. 



It nestles in low bushes, or in close herbage, and bestows 

 considerable pains upon its nest, which is constructed exter- 

 nally of coarse dry grass and fibres, lined with finer ones, and 

 finished with a coating of hair. The eggs are four or five, 

 very pale purplish white in the ground, and marked with dots 

 and lines of chocolate colour, the line often terminating in a 

 dot, in the same way as tears or falling drops are sometimes 

 represented. It breeds rather late, the young not being 

 fledged till June. The love song is a repetition of the same 

 tuneless note, ending in a sort of screech; the call-note, 

 which is generally uttered on the wing, is a simple chirp ; 

 and when the bird is disturbed, it has a third cry, a sort of 

 complaining one ; but all its cries are mere noises. 



The abundance and beauty of these birds do not, in any 

 way, win them favour. Boys destroy the nests of yellow 

 buntings from mere wantonness, and in some parts of the 

 country, break their eggs with a sort of superstitious abhor- 

 rence. The bird does not haunt cairns which have been col- 

 lected over graves in the wilds, and thereby associate itself 



