Il8 CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 



amongst the herbage on broken ground, . . . and 

 is composed of dry grass, with a Hning of bents, 

 hair, and feathers. The five or six eggs are of a 

 bluish -green, spotted and zoned with pale reddish- 

 brown. The parents display considerable anxiety 

 when the nest is approached, flitting from bush 

 to bush and uttering a sharp chack. It requires 

 great patience to eye the female to her nest. 

 This species breeds in Spain, even in the hot 

 plains of Seville, and is plentiful in the south of 

 Europe. Migrants from the north go down in 

 winter to the shores and islands of the Mediter- 

 ranean, North Africa, Asia Minor, and Palestine." 



The hen bird in the case was obtained from a 

 taxidermist in Manchester. 



The Whinchat. 

 The Whinchat is fairly well distributed through- 

 out England and Wales. It also visits parts of 

 Scotland, being common in Sutherlandshire. This 

 species is non-resident with us, but comes over from 

 the Continent about the middle of May, returning 

 in the autumn. Its habitat is very much that of the 

 Stonechat, i.e., frequenting heaths and commons, 

 but the two species are seldom found occupying the 

 same locality in numbers. It is very fond of pasture 

 lands, tufts of coarse grass being a desideratum on 

 which the pittle bird delights to perch itself; from 

 this partiality for grass-lands the local name of 

 " Grasschat " has arisen. 



