Y E L L 0 W B U N T I N G. 
EMBERIZA CITRINELLA. 
The Yellow Bunting is to be met with in almost every part of the British Islands where the country is 
sufficiently wooded to supply its very modest requirements in the way of concealment for its nest. 
Of all our birds, whether native or migratory, this bright-coloured and attractive species is one of the hardiest, 
apparently more fitted to withstand the severity of the climate than many of our winter visitors from the shores of 
Norway, Sweden, or Lapland. The Bedwing and Fieldfare land on our northern coasts, and pass south as the 
cold increases, often being found, during protracted storms, helpless from want or frozen to death in the 
southern counties of England. The swarms of Bramblings which make their appearance in autumn first on 
the stubbles or in the beech-groves, and finally, as winter draws nearer, in the neighbourhood of the farrn- 
steadmgs, gradually take their departure, together with the greater number of the Chaffinches, to districts less 
exposed, leaving the Yellow Hammer to face the cutting blasts and drifting snow-squalls in its native glens. 
In some of the wildest parts of the Highlands I met with these Buntings, during hard frosts, collected into 
flocks numbering several hundreds. The sheltered corner of the cattle-yards and the immediate vicinity of 
any dwelling-houses where food might be procured were their favourite resorts, and, indeed, the only spots 
where the poor birds had a chance of sustaining life. On one occasion during a heavy snow-storm I observed a 
large number of these birds, together with a score or so of Chaffinches, clinging to the joints and feeding on the 
flesh of a dead horse, which had been hung against a dog-kennel at the back of a shooting-lodge in the°west of 
Perthshire. On the pieces being removed and placed on the ground, and the snow swept from them, the half- 
starved birds came down in hundreds and settled on the meat. 
The Yellow Bunting may be found frequenting situations differing considerably in various localities. In 
Sussex it is distributed over the woodlands, breeding by the roadside hedge or under the shelter of some 
bramble-covered bank. It is also equally numerous on the furze-clad downs, its nest being concealed in the 
coarse grass or among the lower branches or roots of some stunted bush. On one occasion (June 18, 1875) I 
discovered a nest of this species containing three eggs, on the open hillside on the downs to the north of 
Stanmer Park. The pasture was exceedingly short ; and there was not the slightest cover of any description 
within a distance of five-and-twenty or thirty yards. 
Hie sheltered valleys among this range of hills are a favourite resort during winter, if the weather remains 
mild. Here I have repeatedly noticed these birds collecting into immense flocks. If disturbed in the evening- 
twilight shortly after seeking their roosting-quarters, the whole hill-side for several acres would appear alive 
with fluttering wings. Frost and snow soon force them to the farmyards ; and in all parts of the country 
tbey may be seen clinging to the stacks, or pecking about the yards in company with Sparrows, Green- 
finches, and Chaffinches. In the marshes of the Broad districts of the eastern counties, this species is 
less abundant, its place being taken by its relative the Black-headed Bunting or Reed-Sparrow ; on the 
cultivated lands adjoining the fens, however, it is plentiful. Severe weather, though it usually drives this 
