PASSE RES. 



STONECHAT. 



OU^, / 



339 



SYLVIID.E. 



Saxicola RUBicoLA (Liimaeus*). 



THE STONECHAT. 



Saxicola ruhicola. 



Saxicola, Bechstehif. — Bill straight, broad at the base ; the upper mandible 

 receding towards the forehead, compressed towards the tip, which is decurved 

 and more or less indented. Nostrils basal, supernal and oval. Gape beset by 

 a few hairs. Wings with the first quill-feather very shoi't ; the second shorter 

 than the third, fourth, or in some cases the fifth ; the third or fourth the longest ; 

 coverts and scapulars .short. Feet with the tarsi long, covered in front by one 

 long scale, to which succeed two or three shorter ones ; the outer toe partly 

 united to the middle toe ; hind claw short, strong and curved. 



The Stonechat, a migratory species over most of that 

 part of the European Continent where it occurs at all, is a 

 constant resident in this country, though doubtless some of 

 those bred here leave us in autumn, to return in the follow- 

 ing spring. Many may be seen throughout the winter on 

 most of our furze-grown commons and heaths, but should 

 the weather prove very severe, they leave these exposed 



* Motacilla rubicola, Linnajus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 332 (1766). 

 + Ornithologisches Taschenbuch, i. p. 216 (1802). 



