190 Emberizidce. 



that any effort to correct it would seem almost hopeless : yet in 

 truth Yellow Ammer is the correct word, ammer being the 

 German term for Bunting, which is undoubtedly meant by the 

 generic name we ordinarily employ, prefixing an unnecessary 

 and meaningless H, after the manner of certain of our provincial 

 countrymen.* The Yellow Bunting may be met with in every 

 hedge and wood during the summer, when it feeds its young 

 entirely, and itself subsists -mainly, on caterpillars and insects of 

 various sorts ; and in autumn consumes the seeds of weeds to a 

 very large extent, in all of which it proves itself the farmer's best 

 friend. In winter it may be seen in flocks on the bushes and in 

 the open fields, occasionally resorting to the stackyard in severe 

 weather ; and a very beautiful bird it is, with golden-yellow head 

 .and chestnut and yellow plumage, and highly would it be prized 

 were it not so common : but alas ! with birds as with human 

 beings, we are apt to overlook the brightest and best, if they are 

 ever before our eyes, whereas we highly prize and bestow 

 abundant attention on the inferior and less deserving, if only 

 occasionally seen by us. 



The specific name Citrinella appears to me a somewhat far- 

 fetched adjective, and, moreover, one which fails to describe 

 what it would portray ; for under this diminutive, as if from ' a 

 little Citron,' or 'coloured like a little Citron/ who would 

 recognise the brilliant yellow of this handsome species, the 

 Bruant jaune of France ; the Gul Sparf, or ' Yellow Sparrow/ 

 of Sweden ; and the Goldammer of Germany ? 



In the northern parts of England it has by some mischance 

 incurred the superstitious dislike of the peasantry, and is 

 commonly known as the 'Devil's Bird.' For it is currently 

 believed that it drinks a drop, some say three drops, of the 

 devil's blood, every May morning, or, as others affirm, every 

 Monday morning. It is therefore much persecuted, and its nest 



* Professor Newton in his fourth edition of Tan-ell's ' British Birds ' has 

 a learned note on this subject, and adduces the high authority of Mr. Skeat 

 to prove that the prefix H was not added by inadvertence by our old English 

 ornithologists. I cannot, however, honestly say that I am convinced, but I 

 refer my readers to the passage, vol. ii., pp. 43, 44. 



