BIRDS. 205 
tameness ; but that is the transitory effect of intoxi- 
cation, and that soon after the bird is bought and brought 
home, it dies, overcome by the power of the laudanum 
that has been given him. 
This bird feeds on various sorts of insects, and all kinds 
of seeds, and is common in every lane, on every hedge 
throughout the country, flitting before the traveller, and 
fluttering about the bushes on the side of the road. Hap- 
pily for him, we have not yet acquired the taste of the 
natives of Italy, where the Yellovvhammer falls a daily 
victim to the delicacy of the table, and where its flesh is 
esteemed very delicious eating. There he is often fat- 
tened, for the purpose of gratifying the palate of epicures. 
The Ortolan (Embei-iza hortulama) which is another spe- 
cies of the same genus, is common in the central and 
southern provinces of Europe, where it is thought exqui- 
sitely flavoured as an article of food. When first taken it is 
frequently very lean, but if supplied with abundance of 
food, it is said to be so greedy, that it will eat till it dies 
of repletion. 
The following lines, addressed to the English Ortolan, 
or Wheatear, by Mrs. Charlotte Smith, allude to the 
foolish timidity of that bird. 
To take you, shepherd boys prepare 
The hollow turf, the wiry snare, 
Of those weak terrors well aware, 
That bid you vainly dread 
The shadows floating o'er the downs, 
Or murmuring gale, that round the stones 
Of some old beacon, as it moans, 
Scarce moves a thistle's head. 
And if a cloud obscure the sun, 
"With faint and fluttering heart you run 
Into the pitfall you should shun, 
And only leave when dead. 
