In winter, Yellow Hammers assemble in large flocks, often mixed with other hard-billed birds, and resort to ploughed fields, or rick-yards. Macgillivray describes with singular accuracy their movements on these occasions. "When the ground is covered with snow, they congregate about houses, and frequent cornyards along with other birds, retiring to the trees and hedges in the vicinity when alarmed. Their flight is undulated, light, strong, and graceful, and they alight abruptly, jerking out their tail-feathers. It is indeed surprising to see with what velocity they descend at once from a considerable height, to settle on the twigs of a tree which had attracted their notice as they were flying over it, and with what dexterity all the individuals of a flock perch in their selected places."
The nest and eggs of the Yellow Hammer resemble those of the Common Bunting, but are smaller. The nest is most frequently placed close to the ground, or actually on the ground, among grass on the skirt of a meadow. Yarrell suggested that the name 'Yellow Hammer' should be written 'Yellow Ammer'--the word Ammer being a well-known German term for Bunting.
Collectors of eggs should carefully avoid cleaning the eggs of the Buntings, as the dark colouring matter with which they are blotched is easily rubbed off with a damp cloth.
The Common Bunting [F] Snow Bunting [M] [F]
Crown dark olive, streaked with black; gorget and band above and below the eye bright yellow; throat, neck, and band across the eye, black; breast olive-grey, bounded towards the sides by chestnut; abdomen dull yellow; back brownish red, with dusky spots. _Female_--the distinct patches of black and yellow wanting; the dusky spots on the back larger. Eggs greyish, marked with ash-coloured and black blotches and lines.
With the exception of its black chin and throat, this bird closely resembles the Yellow Hammer. Its habits, too, are much the same, so that little can be said of it which does not equally apply to its congener. It appears, however, to be much less patient of cold, and is consequently mostly confined to the southern counties of England, from Cornwall to Kent, and in the valley of the Thames. In the south of Europe, in the islands of the Mediterranean, and in Asia Minor, it is said to replace the Yellow Hammer, which is far less common. It is in the habit of perching higher than the Yellow Hammer, and is said to be partial to elm-trees. The present editor knows of its nesting recently in Hertfordshire.