58 THE BIRDS OF OXFOEDSHIEE. 



In 1886 a pair nested on the steep bank by the side of the 

 road between Banbury and Southam, where it rises at Hard- 

 wiek Hill, but such occurrences are rare. It breeds numer- 

 ously on the Chilterns^ which appear to be its true home in 

 the county. Here high up on the breezy hillsides, covered 

 with short slippery turf and dotted with stunted juniper 

 bushes and lumps of white chalk g-listening' in the sunlig-ht, 

 as you listen to the monotonous song of the Yellow Hammers 

 and the twittering of the Linnets as they fly backwards and 

 forwards from bush to bush, you cannot fail to notice the 

 handsome male Stonechat as he sits in a conspicuous position 

 on the topmost twig of some low bush flirting his tail and 

 uttering his sharp clmf., chut, his clear-cut black head^ white 

 collar, and rufous-tinted breast contrasting in a most pleasing 

 manner with the peculiar dull green of the surroundings. In 

 winter the birds which remain with us come down to lower 

 grounds, often frequenting meadows, and sometimes ploughed 

 fields, and they are then more generally diffused, being 

 natvirally more common in the low-lying country about the 

 Isis. 



THE WHINCHAT. ^'^^ 



Saxicola ruhetra. 

 The Whinchat is a regular summer visitor in varying 

 numbers, and is very common in some seasons. Found always 

 on Wigginton Heath and similar situations, it usually prefers 

 a lower elevation than the Stonechat ; thus it is found on the 

 lower part of Shotover Hill, and along the foot of the Chiltern 

 range. It is, however, pretty generally diffused irrespectively 

 of any particular kind of country. It is found on the higher 

 corn lands and in low-lying meadows ; but it seems partial to 

 the works of man, being very fond of railway banks and often 

 taking up its quarters on the hedge bank by roadsides and 

 footpaths, and along the Oxford and Coventry Canal. But 

 the Whinchat never looks prettier than when sitting, as 



