Emberiza Cirlus, LINNÆUS; Le Zizi, ou Bruant de Haie, BUFFON;
Der Zaunammer, BECHSTEIN.
Linnæus has described only the female, and by mistake I have called the
male _Emberizal Eæathorax_, and have given a drawing of it and the
female, in the second volume of my German translation of the English
work of Latham, Synopsis of Birds, printed at Nuremberg, 1794.
DESCRIPTION.--This bird, scarce in many provinces of Germany and in
Britain, but well known in Thuringia, is about the size of the
yellowhammer, being five inches and a half in length, of which the
tail measures two and a half. Its small and flattish beak is of a
brownish blue on the upper part, and light brown on the under; the
feet, eight lines in height, are flesh-coloured; the upper part of
the head and neck olive green with small black strokes, a golden
yellow streak extends from the angle of the upper mandible to the
middle of the neck, passing under the eyes; another begins from the
angle of the under mandible, and descending in a straight line, is
crossed by a third, which is black, then curving round behind the
yellow streak under the eyes, reunites with the black one on the
throat; the back and smaller wing-coverts are cinnamon brown, mixed
with black and yellow green; the rump is olive, with black streaks;
the breast is a fine olive green, light chestnut on the sides; the
rest of the under part of the body is of a golden yellow.
The female is known by its plumage being much paler: the head and
upper part of the neck are olive, much streaked with black; the back
is pale brown, the rump more streaked with black, the tail rather
greyish black than black; two pale yellow lines pass one above the
other below the eyes, and cross a black line which unites to the
black border of the cheeks; the throat is brownish, with a lighter
spot below; the breast is olive, with the sides brownish, the rest of
the under part of the body is pale yellow.
The young ones, before their first moulting, have the upper part of
the body light brown, speckled with black, the under pale yellow
streaked with black; the older they grow the more of an olive tint
the breast acquires.
HABITATION.--In their wild state these birds dwell chiefly in the
southern and temperate parts of Europe, where they frequent orchards,
groves, and the skirts of forests.[35] They are birds of passage,
which leave in November and return in April; they are then met with
very commonly among the chaffinches.
In the house they must be treated in the same manner as the ortolan.
FOOD.--In their wild state they feed on the cabbage caterpillar in
summer, and when corn is ripe, on wheat, barley, millet, oats, and
other grain.
BREEDING.--They place their nest in a hedge or bush on the road side,
and build it of small straws and line it with horse-hair. The eggs
are greyish, speckled with chestnut. In the end of July, whole
families are met with in the fields, particularly those planted with
cabbages, and that have willows in the neighbourhood.
DISEASES AND MODE OF TAKING.--These are similar to what is said under
ortolan.
ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--The male surpasses the ortolan in beauty, but
does not equal it in its song, as in this it more resembles the
yellowhammer.
These birds, however, are very easily tamed, and may be preserved
five or six years.