WH INC HAT. 



143 



stem to stem, and persistently uttering their monotonous 

 call-note {il-tac), yet seldom if ever bctra)'ing its where- 

 abouts. The best way to find the nest of this and other 

 ground-building species is to walk across their haunts at 

 night — a time when they sit close until almost trodden 

 upon. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Whinchat are from four to six in 

 number. They are a clear turquoise-blue in ground 

 colour, faintly dusted with light brown, the markings 

 generally forming a zone. In shape the eggs are some- 

 what peculiar, being almost as much pointed at one end 

 as the other. Average measurement, 75 inch in length, 

 by '58 inch in breadth. Incubation, performed chiefly 

 by the female, lasts about fourteen days. 



Diagnostic characters: The elliptical shape, dark 

 blue colour, and fine, almost invisible markings, readily 

 distinguish the eggs of the Whinchat from those of the 

 Stonechat, the only species with which they are at all 

 likely to be confused in our islands. It might be re- 

 marked that these two species rarely inhabit the same 

 districts. 



