92 



increased number of observers in different parts of this and other 

 countries. 



Mr. Sweet gives a pleasing account of the Wheatear in confine- 

 ment. He says it is a very interesting bird, and is ahnost 

 continually singing ; it will also sing by night as well as by day, if 

 there be a light in the room where it is kept. It has a very 

 pleasant, variable, and agreeable song, different from all other 

 birds, which, in confinement, it continues all the winter. When a 

 pair of them are kept together in an aviary, it is very amusing to 

 see them at play with each other, flying up and down and spreading 

 their wings in a curious manner, dancing and singing at the same 

 time. I have very little doubt but a young bird brought up from 

 the nest might be taught to talk, as they are very imitative. 



About the first week in May the Wheatears have their full 

 complement of eggs. They nest in the loose stone walls of our 

 fells, under stones, sometimes under a piece of turf; and along 

 the coast I have found them nesting in rabbit burrows ; one I 

 discovered in the railway yard at Silloth under some sleepers. 

 The nest is composed of moss and dry grass, and lined with wool 

 or hair, and in some instances with rabbit down ; it is very loosely 

 constructed. They lay five or six eggs of a pale light blue colour, 

 and rather large for the size of the bird. The nest is difficult to 

 find, although in nesting time when you see the birds they are not 

 far off it. 



The food of the Wheatear consists of small slugs, worms, insects, 

 especially the Coleoptera ; and I have also watched them through 

 my binoculars, and seen them feeding on grasshoppers and spiders, 

 and also catching insects flying in the air with the same address 

 as the Flycatcher. 



In the northern parts of Great Britain, this bird is the victim of 

 superstition. Mudie says : "In the north the Wheatear is generally 

 found on heaps of stones, by ruins, or on the dry stone walls of 

 burial grounds ; and though it is a very handsome bird, and in the 

 early season sings sweetly, its haunts have gotten it a bad name. 

 As I have said before, its common alarm note is very like chipping 

 stones ; and as it utters that note from the top of the heap which 



