498 



NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



sidered members of the Muscicapidse, on account of their somewhat broader bills, 

 shorter tarsi, and stronger rictal bristles. The wheatears (Saxicola) form a very marked 

 group of peculiar coloration, black and white being the chief colors, often combined 

 with gray on the back. Both these and the bush-chats (Pratincola) are exclusively 

 Old World inhabitants, with the exception of /Saxicola oenanthe, the wheatear figured, 

 inasmuch as it invades the North American fauna from both sides, over Iceland and 



FIG. 243. Saxicola osnanthe, wheatear ; Pratincola rubetra, wliinchat ; P. rubicola, stonechat. 



Greenland in the east, and Alaska in the west, but its number in our continent is evi- 

 dently yet very small. As it is very fond of rocks and stones, it is quite at home in 

 the bleak northern regions, where it is a conspicuous feature by its light colors and its 

 peculiar habits of simultaneously jerking up the tail and dipping the breast in a spas- 

 modic sort of way, while emitting a curious call note, consisting of three loud clicks, 

 often rendered by ' chick-chuck-chuck? The genus is principally African, and southern 

 species are mostly inhabitants of arid and stony deserts. 



