STONECHAT. 31) 
WHINCHAT. 
PRATINCOLA RUBETRA (Linnzus). 
Utick, Gorsehopper. 
The Whinchat reaches Cheshire later than most of 
the spring migrants, and we have never noted its 
arrival before the beginning of May. From then to 
the end of September it occurs in fair numbers in 
Wirral and throughout the Cheshire Plain. This 
species chiefly affects low-lying, open country, and is 
nowhere more plentiful than in the meadows bordering 
the Mersey between Stockport and Warrington. It is 
less common in the Hill Country. Near Staleybridge, 
Mr. S. Radcliffe finds it nesting on the edge of the 
moorlands, where there is rough ground with furze or 
stunted bushes. A few pairs may be met with on the 
lower ground in Longdendale. We have found it nest- 
ing on the top of Bosley Minn (1260 feet), and it is 
scattered uniformly but sparingly over the upland 
pastures of other hills to the east of Macclesfield. 
STONECHAT. 
PRATINCOLA RUBICOLA (Linnzus). 
Winter Utick. 
In the summer months the Stonechat is found in 
the eastern and western portions of Cheshire, but is 
absent from the Central Plain. Its distribution during 
the breeding season, therefore, resembles that of the 
Wheatear. In Wirral, although less plentiful than the 
