YELLOW-BREASTED BIRDS. 119 



with yellow ; tail dark brown, showing white on the 

 outer feathers during flight. Resident. 



Eggs. — 4-5, purplish-white, spotted and streaked 

 as with pen-scrawllngs of purplish-brown over fainter 

 markings of violet-gray ; "85 x '63 inch (plate 126). 



Nest. — Of dry grass, lined with finer grass and 

 hair, and placed among sheltering grass in banks 

 and ditch-sides, also in low bushes and hedges. 



Distribution.— General. 



This bird is not only yellow-breasted, but when it 

 is seen perching, the yellow head, neck, and under 

 parts leave upon the observer the impression of a 

 bird generally yellow, with obscure overmarkings. 

 When it flies, however, the rich chestnut of the lower 

 back and the white of the outer tail-feathers come 

 clearly into view. These three features make the 

 Yellowhammer easy to identify. It has, moreover, 

 a very distinctive song, ' Nyan-nyan-nyan-nyan- 

 nyan-nyankee-e-e-e ! ' all the syllables before the 

 'kee' representing a series of uniform, quickly re- 

 peated notes, the 'kee' note itself being a thin, 

 long-drawn note, flattening in an indeterminate, 

 melancholy way before expiring. This song the 

 Yellowhammer utters time after time as it perches 

 inertly on hedge or bush top, or in a tree. It 

 nests in hedge or ditch banks, in the hedge itself 

 or in some low bush, frequenting either cultivated 

 land or gorse common. In summer it searches the 

 lower trees for small life for its young, but being 

 itself largely a seed-eater, is commonly to be seen 

 feeding on the ground. It has a short note which 



