THE WHINCHAT. 43 



after its arrival in spring, when tiie bird is perched on the 

 top of a whin bush or fluttering in the air, is sweet and 

 agreeable. Mr. Hardy records hearing a male singing very 

 sweetly on Eedheugh Hill on the 17th of May 1882;^ and 

 I heard several on the whinny ground by the side of the 

 Whitadder, opposite Ellemford Smithy, on the 1 2th of May 

 1887. The partiality of this bird for whins is alluded to 

 by Charlotte Smith in the following lines : — 



For 'midst the yellow bloom the assembled Chats 

 Wave high the tremulous wing, and with shrill notes, 

 But clear and pleasant, cheer the extensive heath. 



Its food consists to a great extent of gnats and other insects, 

 to seize which it may be often seen leaping into the air from 

 its perch. It likewise feeds on small worms, beetles, and 

 wireworms. 



On the moors and uplands, the nest, which is generally 

 built of moss and dry grass lined with rootlets and horse- 

 hair, is placed on the ground amongst heather, or under a 

 whin bush ; while in meadows a thick tuft of rank grass is 

 often chosen for its site. The eggs, which are five or six in 

 number, are greenish blue, and are usually marked at the 

 larger end with fine specks of pale reddish brown. 



The Whinchat can be distinguished when in mature 

 plumage, from the Stonechat and Wheatear, which it some- 

 what resembles in general appearance, by its mottled brown 

 head and back, and a white streak over the eye, combined 

 with a white patch on each side of the neck. 



> Hist. Ber. Nat. Club, vol. x. p. 559. 



