A VANISHING BIRD.
Is it really true—can it be true ?—that the yellow-hammer is vanishing ? At one time of year it is the most apparent of all our small birds, and so numerous, as a rule, that the con- tinuous song, " A little bit of bread and no cheese," dins even the motorist's ears over continuous miles of road. Mr. J. C. Squire announced its paucity some while ago, and before the winter, in the preface to a little book of natural history. Now laments for the bird are appearing in the Midland Press ; and a private lament reaches me from the west. The winter, of course, was disastrous to many birds. The water-rail clean vanished from the Broads, long-tailed tits, very common last year, are rare, and the total population of birds, including blackbirds and thrushes, is immensely reduced. Yet some birds have flourished. I have seldom seen more goldfinches, and nesting larks are in legion. As for these buntings, I have heard the ciil bunting—so like the yellow-hammer—and found a yellow-hammer's nest with eggs ; but the evidence of their rarity seems to be overwhelming—at least, in some districts. Is it general ?
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