476 



PERCHING BIRDS 



Stonechat ^"^ °^ ^^^^ handsomest of the smaller British birds is 



(Pratineola undoubtedly a cock stonechat, especially when seen 



rubicola) perched on a furze-bush uttering its well-known harsh 



cry of " u-taek, u-taek." Why, however, the species 



should be called the stonechat, when it is even a more constant frequenter 



of gorse-clad commons and heaths than its cousin the whinchat, is one 



of those puzzles in nomenclature to which no satisfactory solution can 



be given. 



Although the stonechat presents in many respects a ver\- close 



STONECHAT (MAI.K AND FI.MAI.E). 



resemblance to the whinchat, the cock in summer is readily distinguished 

 by its black head, throat, and upper-parts, the feathers of the back having, 

 however, brown margins, while the upper tail-coverts are white, with 

 black spots, and there is a white patch on each side of the neck, and 

 another on the wing formed by the inner greater coverts of the 

 secondaries ; the breast is bright rufous, graduall}' becoming paler 

 towards the abdomen. After the autumn moult the feathers of the 

 lower surface are paler, while the black of the head and back is 

 obscured by the brown margins of the feathers, which subsequent!)' 

 disappear by wear. The hen may be distinguished from the female 

 whinchat by the absence of a buff eye-stripe, the black throat, and 

 darker and duller upper-parts, and also by the circumstance that the 



