THE WHEATEAR. 303 
The fact that there are two races of Wheatears has frequently been 
noticed. Some weeks after the arrival of the typical birds a larger and 
buffer race is reported to arrive on our shores, and to pass northwards on 
migration. Some ornithologists think that the later arrivals are the young 
of the previous year, which retain more of their autumn plumage in the 
spring than older birds do; whilst it has been suggested that they are the 
Wheatears which breed in Greenland, passing through on migration vid 
the Shetland Islands and Iceland, and which are somewhat larger and 
buffer than our birds, and almost constitute a distinct local race. 
The Wheatear has no very near ally; and the male is not likely to be 
confused with any other species of Chat. The female may be distinguished 
from S. isabellina and the female of S. deserti by having less black on the 
tail. The black on the terminal portion of the tail-feathers (except the 
two centre ones) occupies less than one third of the length of the feather 
in S. enanthe, whilst in the other two species it occupies more than one - 
third, 
