THE STONECHAT. 317 
PRATINCOLA RUBICOLA. 
THE STONECHAT. 
(PLaTE 9.) 
Ficedula rubetra, Briss. Orn. iii. p. 428, pl. 23. fig. 1 (1760). 
Motacilla rubicola, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 352 (1766); et auctorum plurimorum— 
(Bechstein), (Temminck), (Naumann), ( Yarrell), (Schlegel), (Newton), (Dresser), 
(Bonaparte), &e. 
Sylvia muscipeta, Scop. Ann. I. Hist. Nat. p. 159 (1769). 
‘Sylvia rubicola (Linn.), Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 523 (1790). 
Saxicola rubicola (Linn.), Bechst. Orn. Taschenb. i. p. 220 (1802). 
Pratincola rubicola (Linn.), Koch, Syst. baier. Zool. p. 192 (1816). 
. Curruca rubicola (Zinn.), Leach, Syst. Cat. Mamm. Sc. Brit. Mus. p. 24 (1816). 
Fruticicola rubicola (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. ii. p. 279 (1839). 
The Stonechat closely resembles the Whinchat in form and general 
habits, and slightly so in appearance, a circumstance which has caused 
much confusion to arise between the two species ; for in almost all parts 
of England the Whinchat, by far the commonest species, popularly does 
duty for the Stonechat, and in many parts of Scotland the Wheatear is 
universally known by that name. But, unlike the Whinchat, the present 
species is, in our islands at least, a constant resident, and may be seen in its 
favourite haunts at all times of the year. Its distribution in Great Britain 
is somewhat local, much more so than that of the Whinchat. The Stone- 
chat breeds in suitable localities in all the counties of Great Britain and 
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Hebrides, and is occasionally found 
on the Orkney and Shetland Isles, but is not known to breed there. On 
the continent the Stonechat is not found north of the Baltic or east 
of the valley of the Volga; but it is a resident in North Africa, Palestine, 
and Asia Minor. 
The Stonechat has several very near allies, with some of which it ap- 
parently interbreeds, as intermediate forms occur. In North-east Russia 
and Siberia P. maura is found, with black axillaries and unspotted white 
rump. In North-east Africa P. hemprichii occurs, with more white than 
black on the tail in thorough-bred birds. In South Africa our species is 
represented by P. torqguata, in which the rump is white and the chestnut 
on the breast more restricted. 
The haunts of this charming little bird are almost exclusively confined 
to the heaths and commons and rough open wastes, rock-strewn and 
overgrown with tangled briars and brambles and a few stunted bushes. A 
