312 BRITISH BIRDS. 
PRATINCOLA RUBETRA. 
THE WHINCHAT. 
(Pirate 9.) 
Ficedula rubetra major sive rubicola, Briss. Orn, iii. p. 432, pl. 24. fig. 1 (1760). 
Motacilla rubetra, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 332 (1766); et auctorum plurimorum— 
Latham, (Temminck), (Naumann), (Gould), (Schlegel), (Newton), (Dresser), 
(Heuglin), (Sharpe), &e. 
Sylvia zya, Scop. Ann. I. Hist. Nat. p. 158 (1769). 
Sylvia rubetra (Linn.), Scop. Ann. I. Hist. Nat. p. 159 (1769). 
Motacilla fervida, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 968 (1788). 
Sylvia fervida (@mel.), Lath. Ind. Orn, ii. p. 525 (1790). 
Saxicola rubetra (Linn.), Bechst. Orn. Taschenb. i. p. 219 (1802). 
Pratincola rubetra (Linn.), Koch, Syst. baier. Zool. p. 191 (1816). 
Curruca rubetra (Linn.), Leach, Syst. Cat. Mamm. Sc. Brit. Mus. p. 24 (1816). 
(Enanthe rubetra (Zinn.), Vieill. N. Dict. @ Hist. Nat. xxi. p. 427 (1818). 
(énanthe fervida (Lath.), Vieill. N. Dict. d’ Hist. Nat. xxi. p. 436 (1818). 
Fruticicola rubetra (Linn.), Macgill. Br. B. ii. p> 2738 (1839). 
Rubetra major, Gray, List Gen. B. p. 22 (1840). 
Pratincola fervida (Gmel.), Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 179 (1846). 
Pratincola senegalensis (Briss.), Hartl. Orn. W.-Afr. p. 68 (1857). 
The Whinchat may be said to be pretty generally diffused throughout 
the three kingdoms, and in certain localities is a common and abundant 
species. It is rarer and more local in Ireland, and only breeds occasionally 
in the extreme south-west of England ; whilst in Scotland in many districts 
it is absent altogether, although it ranges up to the extreme north, and 
has occasionally been seen on the Orkney Isles. On the Hebrides it is a 
fairly common bird, and it has once been recorded from the Faroe Islands. 
The Whinchat breeds in all suitable localities throughout Central and 
North Europe, ranging from the Arctic circle as far south as the pine- 
regions extend. It passes through South Europe on migration, a few 
birds remaining to breed at elevations that place them in a similar climate 
to their more northern congeners, It winters in parts of South Europe 
and North Africa, ranging as far south on the latter continent as the 
Gambia and Fantee country in the west, and Nubia and Abyssinia in the 
east. The Whinchat is found in the Caucasus. The record of its occurrence 
in Persia by De Filippi seems doubtful ; and the eastern range of the species 
is most probably the Ural Mountains. 
The haunts of the Whinchat are the upland wastes quite as much as 
the lowland pastures. The bird is commonly seen in the large gorse- 
coverts, from which it receives its name of Whin- or Furze-Chat. Its 
