THE YELLOW HAMMER.cluster of flowersWhodoes not know this almost universally distributed bird in our country, with its dress of almost canary-like yellow, streaked with brown, and short though oft-repeated song? On furze-clad commons, along cultivated hedgerows, and on railway embankments close to busy London town, and in far-away parts of the country alike, it may be heard morning, noon, and night persistently going over its familiar notes, which always seem to me to accord best with the drowsiness of a hot summer’s day. Indeed, I must confess that at such times its reiteration has sent me to sleep.Illustration: YELLOW HAMMER ON NESTYELLOW HAMMER ON NEST.It has been variously represented by the characters of the alphabet, as the following examples will show:tic-tic-tic-e-ereze, te, te, te, te, te, te, twyee;chick,chick, churr;chit-chit-chierre-r-r. By far the most popular rendering of it in England, however, is the somewhat hackneyed phrase, “A little bit of bread and no cheese.” In Scotland it becomes, “Deil, deil, deil tak ye,” a supposed imprecation upon boys who steal its eggs.There is also a curious legend in the North to the effect that Satan supplies the bird with half a drop of his blood every morning wherewith to mark its eggs with the greatly varied scribbling lines that appear upon them.The song, although more musical than that of the Corn Bunting, is considered by many people to be a monotonous performance. The poet Grahame was evidently aware of this when he wrote the lines:“Even in a bird the simplest notes have charmsFor me: I even love the yellow hammer’s song.”The call note of this species, when disturbed, is atrit, trit, trit, and on the wingtisit.It may always be distinguished with certainty from its much rarer relative, the Cirl Bunting, by the fact that it has no black upon its chin.The female Yellow Hammer is a triflesmaller than her mate, is much less yellow, and the markings on her head are darker. Both sexes take a share in the work of incubation.YELLOW HAMMER’S NEST AND EGGSYELLOW HAMMER’S NEST AND EGGS.The nest is built in hedge banks, at the foot of light open bushes, under brambles, and sometimes even in gorse bushes and thick evergreen hedges at a considerableheight from the ground. It is composed of dry grass, rootlets, and moss on the outside, with an inner lining of fine, dead grass and horsehair.The eggs, numbering from four to six, are of a dingy white ground colour, tinged with purple, streaked, spotted, and blotched with dark purplish-brown. The streaks or scribblings generally end in a spot, and, on account of their similarity to the marks made by a pen, the bird is known in many parts of the country as the “Writing Lark.”This species, although commencing to breed in April, sometimes has eggs as late even as September.landscape with hills
cluster of flowers
Whodoes not know this almost universally distributed bird in our country, with its dress of almost canary-like yellow, streaked with brown, and short though oft-repeated song? On furze-clad commons, along cultivated hedgerows, and on railway embankments close to busy London town, and in far-away parts of the country alike, it may be heard morning, noon, and night persistently going over its familiar notes, which always seem to me to accord best with the drowsiness of a hot summer’s day. Indeed, I must confess that at such times its reiteration has sent me to sleep.
Illustration: YELLOW HAMMER ON NESTYELLOW HAMMER ON NEST.
YELLOW HAMMER ON NEST.
It has been variously represented by the characters of the alphabet, as the following examples will show:tic-tic-tic-e-ereze, te, te, te, te, te, te, twyee;chick,chick, churr;chit-chit-chierre-r-r. By far the most popular rendering of it in England, however, is the somewhat hackneyed phrase, “A little bit of bread and no cheese.” In Scotland it becomes, “Deil, deil, deil tak ye,” a supposed imprecation upon boys who steal its eggs.
There is also a curious legend in the North to the effect that Satan supplies the bird with half a drop of his blood every morning wherewith to mark its eggs with the greatly varied scribbling lines that appear upon them.
The song, although more musical than that of the Corn Bunting, is considered by many people to be a monotonous performance. The poet Grahame was evidently aware of this when he wrote the lines:
“Even in a bird the simplest notes have charmsFor me: I even love the yellow hammer’s song.”
“Even in a bird the simplest notes have charmsFor me: I even love the yellow hammer’s song.”
“Even in a bird the simplest notes have charms
For me: I even love the yellow hammer’s song.”
The call note of this species, when disturbed, is atrit, trit, trit, and on the wingtisit.
It may always be distinguished with certainty from its much rarer relative, the Cirl Bunting, by the fact that it has no black upon its chin.
The female Yellow Hammer is a triflesmaller than her mate, is much less yellow, and the markings on her head are darker. Both sexes take a share in the work of incubation.
YELLOW HAMMER’S NEST AND EGGSYELLOW HAMMER’S NEST AND EGGS.
YELLOW HAMMER’S NEST AND EGGS.
The nest is built in hedge banks, at the foot of light open bushes, under brambles, and sometimes even in gorse bushes and thick evergreen hedges at a considerableheight from the ground. It is composed of dry grass, rootlets, and moss on the outside, with an inner lining of fine, dead grass and horsehair.
The eggs, numbering from four to six, are of a dingy white ground colour, tinged with purple, streaked, spotted, and blotched with dark purplish-brown. The streaks or scribblings generally end in a spot, and, on account of their similarity to the marks made by a pen, the bird is known in many parts of the country as the “Writing Lark.”
This species, although commencing to breed in April, sometimes has eggs as late even as September.
landscape with hills