THE YELLOW-HAMMER 
weeds. He is also fond of grain, and may be seen 
pulling ears out of stacks, winnowing them, and 
having a rare feast. 
Once one of these birds was placed in a cage 
with a young Cuckoo, and the industrious little 
creature was seen to be feeding his greedy companion 
with unceasing care and kindness. 
A bird-lover tells how he was walking one day 
down a country lane, when he saw on the bank 
under the hedge a pair of Yellow-Hammers with 
their newly fledged young. Startled by his approach, 
one of these baby birds fluttered down into the road, 
and sat there, chirping in a helpless kind of way. 
The poor mother was in a sad state of distress, and she 
flew down beside her young one, doing all she could 
to draw away the attention of the dangerous-looking 
stranger. At last the mate, fearing to lose his dear 
wife as well as his child, followed too, and tried to 
draw her away by pulling her tail and hopping 
backwards. 
This went on for about a minute, when the 
onlooker, not wishing to alarm the poor birds any 
longer, walked away quickly, leaving the three to 
regain a place of safety. 
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