PERCHING BIRDS, 69 
the shape of rocks for many miles around us, and the 
fact seems to be one of those inexplicable ones which 
baffle all our conjectures to find a cause. I have not 
met with it since, but I should not be surprised to 
find a few pairs breeding regularly in the neighbour- 
hood. 
Those pretty little birds, the Stonechat (S. rubicola) 
and the Whinchat (S. rubetra), are very common, parti- 
cularly on the furze-clad parts of the forest, which they 
much enliven by their active and restless habits. They 
are almost exclusively found in wild localities like these, 
seldom intruding on the limits of cultivation. The 
stonechat resides with us all the year round, but I think 
not in equal abundance, a partial emigration appearing 
to take place in the autumn, while their numbers are in- 
creased in the spring. It is a snug-looking, compactly- 
built bird; and the male in the breeding plumage, with 
the deep black head and rufous breast, is really hand- 
some, though there is much variation in the distinctness 
and brilliancy of the colours. Perched on the top of a 
furze bush or a prominent sprig of heath, these birds 
utter their singular notes, “chat, chat, chat,” from which 
they take their name; and though rather shy and wary, 
I have often called them close to me by rapping two 
stones together, and thus producing an exact imitation 
of their call. While perched in this manner, they jerk 
their tail and wings simultaneously with the utterance 
of their cry, then perchance dart to the ground to cap- 
ture an insect, and again flit to their post of observa- 
tion, rarely remaining many minutes in one spot. They 
seem to be very constant in their attachments, seldom 
being seen otherwise than in pairs even during the 
winter; and I think that only the old birds remain 
