I20 CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 



the base of the tail feathers, which, when the wings 

 are extended, is very noticeable. 



"The name Wheatear has no connection with 

 wheat, but is a corruption of white, and of the 

 Anglo-Saxon (2rs, for which the modern equivalent 

 is rump, and, in fact, as White-rumps this species 

 and its congeners are known in every European 

 language. About the middle of April the loose 

 nest, of dry grass, lined with rabbits' fur, hair, and 

 feathers, is placed in rabbit burrows, crevices of 

 stone walls, peat-stacks on the moors, or under 

 rocks and fallow clods. The eggs — five, six, and 

 often seven, are of a very pale blue. Two broods 

 are produced in the season. The old birds are wary 

 and do not easily betray the situation of their 

 treasure. The song of the male, often uttered on 

 the wing, is rather pretty, and the bird also displays 

 considerable powers of imitating other species. Its 

 food consists of small spiders, insects — often 

 captured on the wing — and their larvae. This 

 species breeds throughout Europe, Siberia, 

 Mongolia, and at suitable elevations in Asia Minor 

 and North Africa. Its winter migrations extend to 

 a little south of the Equator" (H.S.). 



The specimens in the case were shot in the 

 western islands of Scotland. 



The Redstart. 



This species is migratory and non-resident, its 

 arrival being, to a certain extent, influenced by the 



