AXn NEIGHBOURHOOD. 113 



discover as that of the Stonechat, is not often to be 

 found without considerable patience and trouble, 

 unless, indeed, the bird is accidentally disturbed from 

 it by a dog or a person passing within a few inches, 

 for the hen sits very close, and one may watch the male 

 for hours without his affording the slightest indication 

 of where his treasures lie hidden. The few nests 

 which I have seen have been situated in a slight 

 cavity of the ground, sometimes in an open field, 

 but for the most part on a sloping bank, always well 

 surrounded and concealed by rank herbage, and com- 

 posed of coarse grasses and sometimes a little moss, 

 lined with fine fibres and horsehair, and containing 

 from four to six eggs, of a darker shade of blue than 

 those of the Stonechat, and, like them, closely spotted 

 with rusty-red spots. I believe that the Whinchat 

 generally rears two broods, but of this I cannot speak 

 positively. I have met with this species in many 

 parts of the South of Europe in the summer months, 

 but nowhere in what I should call abundance ; in 

 Spain, for instance, though I have seen the bird in 

 various parts of the country, it is far from common, 

 and amongst the multitude of our summer migrants 

 which pass through Algeria on their northward 

 journey I found this species comparatively rare. I 

 have kept a Whinchat for some time in captivity, and 

 found that he thrived well upon ants' eggs, house-flics, 

 occasional beetles, and hard-boiled eggs. 



