MHEATEAR. 255 



not so prone to alight on a biisli as either of the species of 

 Saxicola already described. 



The Wheatears begin to make their nest in the southern 

 parts of our island by the middle of April ; and on the sea- 

 coast, where some remain, Mr. Couch says, " our prying 

 fisher-boys inform me that it is concealed in the bottom of a 

 deep recess, beneath some huge stone or rock, far beyond the 

 reach of their arm. Consequently, when discovered, — a cir- 

 cumstance of some difficulty, — they are able to obtain it 

 only by means of a hook fastened to the end of a rod." The 

 Wheatear frequently makes its nest in old walls, or in pits 

 from which stone, gravel, sand, or chalk have been dug out. 

 In the Journal of a Naturalist, Mr. Knapp says, " one had 

 made her nest deep in the crevice of a stone quarry, so care- 

 fully hidden by projecting fragments as not to be observed 

 from without until part of the rock was removed ; her fabric 

 was large and rudely constructed with dried bents, scraps of 

 shreds, feathers, and rubbish, collected about the huts on the 

 down, and contained four pale blue eggs. Another hen-bird 

 had descended through the interstices of some rather large 

 loose stones, as a mouse would have done, and then pro- 

 ceeded laterally to a hollow space in a bank, against which 

 the stones were laid ; and so deep had she penetrated, that 

 many of the stones had to be removed before we could dis- 

 cover her treasure : as no appearances led to any suspicion 

 of a nest, it would never have been detected but for our 

 watchfulness." 



The same degree of caution, however, is not always ob- 

 servable. In Suffolk and Norfolk, the Wheatear, according 

 to Mr. Salmon, " is very abundant on the warrens, and 

 usually selects a deserted rabbit-burrow, in which it places its 

 nest at some little distance from the entrance : it is com- 

 posed of dried roots, intermixed with feathers, rabbits' down, 

 and other light substances ; and it generally contains six pale 



