174 



and sedentary; but Guirao speaks of it as a very rare bird in the province of Murcia. In 

 Portugal it has not yet been authentically determined to occur ; but Moquin-Tandon has included 

 it among the birds of the Canaries. 



Mr. Gould states that it also inhabits the northern regions of Africa from Tunis to the Nile ; 

 but we cannot find his authority for this latter statement. 



Loche says it is not common in Algiers, and found more frequently during the winter 

 season. He procured it himself on the Zaccar, in the province of Algiers, where he often met 

 with it. 



The Yellow Bunting is a well-known bird, and is to be observed on almost every hedge-row. 

 Perched on the top of the highest available twig, the male may be heard incessantly pouring out 

 his monotonous but not disagreeable song ; and during the breeding-season these notes fall upon 

 the ear from the early morn till late into the evening ; as twilight sets in, the Yellow Hammer 

 may still be heard, and is perhaps the last bird to give a parting note to the retiring day, with 

 the exception of his congener the Corn-Bunting, who sings till it is quite dusk. Country people 

 imitate the note of the Yellow Hammer by the words, " a little bit of bread and no cheese" the 

 accent on the last word; but sometimes the utterance alters in tone, the request being for a 

 " little bit of bread and no cheese," the last word being dropped and the accent on the penulti- 

 mate. In the north they render its note as "de'il tak' ye." These words, however, scarcely 

 reproduce the true note of the Yellow Hammer, and we may quote the following from 

 Bechstein : — " Its song, which it utters from February to August, sitting on the top of a tree or 

 twig in a conspicuous position, is not disagreeable, and consists of these seven to nine clear notes, 

 ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-tiiiii-ti, of which the first syllables are evenly sounded, whereas the latter are more 

 drawn out." The call-note is sharp, and resembles the word " zeetsch." 



The present species cannot be considered a true migrant, as it merely changes its habitat, on 

 the approach of winter, when it leaves the more wooded country and collects in flocks in the 

 fields and in the neighbourhood of habitations. To some extent, when it has located itself in the 

 high north in inclement situations, it seeks more temperate climes on the approach of the cold 

 weather. 



Its food consists chiefly of seeds, but daring the summer season it is to a certain extent 

 insectivorous, and is of utility to the husbandman from its feeding on the green caterpillar of 

 Pa/pilio rapes, as observed by the Rev. H. F. Snell (J. f. O. 1857, p. 186). Macgillivray also 

 (B. of Gr. Brit.) gives similar details. Naumann (Vog. D. iv. p. 245) states that during the 

 summer time they chiefly feed on insects, without, however, despising seeds, on which latter they 

 subsist principally during the winter. Oil-containing seeds they only feed on when cereals are 

 unobtainable ; rye, however, they do not seem to care for. 



The nest is composed of dry grass-straws, roots, moss, and occasionally small twigs, and is 

 neatly lined with fine roots and hair. Naumann states that it never uses feathers. It is generally 

 placed near or on the ground, but is occasionally found in a bush some feet above the earth. 

 Mr. Salmon, according to Hewitson, found a nest at the unusual height of seven feet above the 

 ground among the thick bushy branches of some broom. 



Yarrell remarks : — " The Yellow Bunting is a late breeder generally, but some exceptions to 

 this rule have been noticed ; and the nest is more frequently placed upon or very near the ground, 



