TURDINyK. 



27 



Mimmi- 



THE WHINCHAT. 



Pratincola rubktra (LinncGus). 



The Whinchat generally arrives in the southern portions of our 

 islands by the middle of April, but it seldom reaches the north before 

 the beginning of May ; after which, until its departure for the south 

 in the early part of October, it is fairly distributed throughout Eng- 

 land and Wales, although somewhat local in the west ; becoming 

 rare in Cornwall, and only occurring in the Scilly Islands during the 

 autumnal migration. In Scotland, although absent in some districts, 

 it may be said to range from the border counties to Caithness, and 

 is very common in Sutherlandshire ; it occurs in the Outer Hebrides 

 and the Orkneys ; and Mr. A. H. Evans identified it in the summer 

 of 1S87 in the Shetlands. To Ireland it is a rare and local summer- 

 visitor. 



A very rare straggler to the Faroes, the Whinchat breeds from 

 about 70° N. lat. in Scandinavia southwards, in suitable localities, in 

 many parts of Northern and ('entral Europe ; and, seeking in the 

 mountains appropriate climatic conditions, it nests as far south as 

 Sicily. In the countries bordering the Mediterranean it is, however, 

 principally a migrant ; wintering in Africa down to Fantee on the 

 west side, and Abyssinia on the east ; also in Arabia, Asia Minor, 

 and Northern India. The Ural Mountains appear to form its eastern 

 boundary in European Russia. 



The breeding-season is from the beginning of May : the nest is 

 on the ground, or at most a few inches above it, among the stems of 



