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.