WHINCHAT 29 



latter part of the season from all its more northerly 

 breeding places, but that a few pass the winter in Kent 

 and Sussex, even in places where they rarely breed in 

 the summer." In his Ornithology of Kent, 1844, the 

 Eev. J. Pemberton Bartlett states that the Whinchat is 

 " common." 



In the Zoologist, 1844, Mr. M. Hutchinson writes : 

 " For hours and hours during the spring of 1843 I listened 

 with mournful pleasure to the plaintive and melodious 

 strains of a beautiful Whinchat. It had many times 

 soothed my sorrowful heart, and for some days I had 

 been anxiously and constantly watching and hoping for 

 the return of my feathered friend. My heart leaped with 

 joy when I again heard the well-known voice of m_y 

 pretty Whinchat on the morning of April 18, 1844. I 

 soon spied my old favourite ; for even among birds the 

 course of true love runs not always smooth. No sooner 

 had a sturdy Stonechat, located in the same whins, 

 discovered my Whinchat, than, thinking the newcomer's 

 company much too near to be pleasant, he flew at him 

 like a fury, and would not let my little dear have a 

 moment's peace, nor allow him to settle down comfort- 

 ably, until in a few days the arrival of the Whinchat's 

 lawful partner appeared to satisfy him that his cousin 

 meant no mischief. 



" On April 23, 1845, exactly on the same spot as last 

 year at Shooter's Hill, I heard the plaintive note of the 

 Whinchat some time before I could find him. On May 

 18 I noticed about a dozen male Whinchats in the 

 Eltham Eoad, apparently resting in their journey north- 

 wards. On April 15, 1846, I was much gratified at 

 meeting with my especial favourite, the Whinchat, on 

 Shooter's Hill ; the pretty bird, perched on a sprig of 



