Gould commented that the male Yellow Bunting looked very striking especially in summer among the brambles in country lane hedges, where it often sang 'its singular ditty' (traditionally 'little-bit-of-bread-and-NO-cheese') from some prominent twig especially in the early morning. The illustration shows the female (below) with the male on a flowering branch of bramble. The flower on the ground is the Lesser Wintergreen Pyrola minor which was sent to Gould by the botanist, Rev. H. Harpur-Crewe.

DISTRIBUTION: Breeds in Europe and west Asia, between 70°N and 28°N. Winters south to north west Africa and Mediterranean and east to eastern Asia. In Britain apparently long-term overall stable population over last two decades