YELLOW HAMMER. 161 



of the genus which shows so much yellow ori the head^ and has at the same 

 time a yellow throat and belly. 



If the Yellow Hammer was not so common, its varied and brilliant 

 dress would be far more highly appreciated than it is ; but as it crowns 

 almost every bush and hedgerow, we are apt to pass it by with the most 

 cursory of glances. Its favourite haunts are well-cultivated districts, 

 fields, country lanes, and commons ; but it is by no means a scarce bird 

 near the moorlands, on wild upland pastures, and on the patches of broken 

 rocky ground locally known as " roughs,-" thick with bilberry and heath 

 and with a sprinkling of stunted thorns and gorse bushes, a few mountain- 

 ashes, and silver birches. It is not an inhabitant of woods, but frequents 

 their borders, and is common in well-timbered districts if there be plenty 

 of open ground between the trees. The monotonous song of the Yellow 

 Hammer in early spring often directs attention to the bird, and it may be 

 seen sitting on the topmost spray of a hawthorn just bursting into leaf. Its 

 yellow and brown plumage glistens in the bright sunlight as the bird flicks its 

 tail a little uneasily ; then, uttering its harsh long-drawn chich, it flits in 

 drooping flight to safer quarters, spreading out its tail like a fan the moment 

 before it alights ; another monotonous chich is uttered, then the bird pours 

 forth his oft-repeated song. There is nothing particularly sweet in his strains, 

 but there is something about them that has a great charm in the opening 

 year, and lends a sense of life to the surrounding scenery. The song consists 

 of one note repeated several times in quick succession, concluding with two 

 others drawn out to a considerable length. Sometimes these finishing notes 

 are omitted, as if the bird were alarmed before he could finish his song. 

 The reason, however, is very often because a rival makes a sudden appear- 

 ance, and, without waiting to finish, he darts like lightning from his perch to 

 chase and give battle to the intruder. The Yellow Hammer in the pairing- 

 season is a most excitable little bird, and two males may repeatedly be 

 seen chasing each other with great rapidity through the branches. At this 

 season the call-note of the male is chich^ chich, churr. The Yellow 

 Hammer is a most pertinacious songster ; what he lacks in quality he 

 makes up in quantity, and throughout the summer his music is heard in 

 untiring strains. No other bird sings so late into the autumn, except the 

 Eobin and the Wren. He commences early in February, and continues 

 in song until September. When singing he usually perches on some 

 conspicuous place on a hedge, a wall, or a tree, or sometimes even on the 

 ground; and there, if not disturbed, he will sit for a considerable time 

 singing lustily at intervals, and being answered by the other Yellow 

 Hammers in the vicinity. Although the song is not very loud, it may be 

 heard at a long distance. 



The Yellow Hammer pairs in the middle of March, but is nevertheless 

 a somewhat late breeder, and eggs are seldom laid before the middle, or 



VOL II. M 



