88 Mr. W. C. Tait on the Birds of Portugal. 



The educated classes pronounce the c soft in " Chasco," and 

 the hard pronunciation of the c by the peasants is piobably 

 archaic, the name being no doubt onomatopoeic. It is in- 

 teresting to observe the sharp boundaries of the two very 

 distinct popular names of this bird. 1 have not been able to 

 discover the origin of the southern name '' Cartaxo ; " but its 

 northern coast-limit (Angeja, near Aveiro) curiously enough 

 coincides more or less with the southern name of the White 

 Wagtail, which at Angeja takes the nameof " Arve'la/^'from 

 the Latin arvum. The most northern inland locality is Caldas 

 de Aregos, where " Cartaxo " is sometimes used. 



This species is very abundant all over the country, settling 

 on the stone walls, top of the furze bushes, on the telegraph- 

 wires, or some other elevation. The pairs seem inseparable, 

 and it is a tame, fearless bird. This Chat is one of the 

 earliest to nest. 



The country people have a superstition that this is a 

 " pe9onhenta '' or excommunicated bird, and upon inquiry 

 they told me that it was the bird which led Judas to where 

 Christ was to be found. Iq Galicia the country people say 

 that while leading Judas, the Stonechat cried (m Gallego 

 dialect !) " Chas, chas, por aqui bem has '' {" This is the 

 way ") ; but the Chaffinch tried to lead in a contrary direction 

 by crying "Pirn, pirn, por aqui bem vim'^ (" Come this way ^') . 

 The Chaffinch is therefore looked on with more favour. 



16. RuTiciLLA PHffiNicuRUS (Linn.). "Rabeta," Coimbra. 

 The Coimbra Museum contains some specimens, and Dr. 



Carvalho informs me that this bird usually appears in the 

 neighbourhood of that city in September on passage, and 

 disappears during October, being scarcer in some years than 

 in others. 



17. KuTiciLLA TiTYs (Scop.) . " Pisco fcrrciro,^^ Oporto; 

 ''Inja," Melres; '' Raboruivo," Peuafiel, Peniche ; "^^ Ne- 

 grone/' " Noite negra," Vigo ; '■' Perreiro,^' Coimbra. 



This rock -loving-bird is of general distribution in stony 

 places ; it is also found in towns, where it makes its nest in 

 holes in walls, or under the roofs. I often hear its clear short 



