BIRDS OF THE FIELD 269 



\Miinchat is a true summer visitor, arriving in 

 England in April and leaving in September. 

 Although, as its name implies, it may often be 

 found on heaths and commons \vhere whins flourish, 

 its more constant resort is the rich meadow-lands, 

 and its occasional title Grasschat is certainly a more 

 appropriate name. 



It rears its voung in the deeps of the mowing- 

 grass, often alighting on the topmost spray of the 

 creamy flowered angelica, whose hollow stem rises 

 far above the denser herbage, and here, as summer 

 advances (if the brood escapes the devastating 

 machine which sweeps aside their sanctuary in level 

 swathes), the young may be all seen, accompanying 

 the hay-makers and uttering their loud, repeated 

 note — •" utack-utack " — as they perch on some 

 prominent coign of vantage. 



The Whinchat's habit of selecting the very 

 highest point of a possible resting-place is strongly 

 marked. If a tall branch be erected in any part of 

 the hay-field and the Whinchats be gently driven 

 in the direction, they will be seen to change their 

 line of flight and to make for it from quite a con- 

 siderable distance. This practice probably arises 

 from the fact that they spend so much of their lives 

 in the uncut hay-fields, and as they flit over the 

 surface, thev become aware that the lower grasses 

 afford an insecure foothold ; thus they come instinct- 

 ively to select the firmer sprays of the taller growing- 

 stems, which not onlv provide a strong perch, but 

 also prevent them from being hidden. 



Here it may be noted that if a long stick be placed 

 at a convenient angle against a hedge and a Robin 



