In Farm and Garden. i 75 



Yorkshire hay-meadows before the end of the month 

 or even the first week in May. Their pretty nest is 

 snugly hidden amongst the long meadow grass, a 

 simple structure of dry grass, lined with a few horse- 

 hairs, and the half-dozen eggs are turquoise - blue, 

 with just the faintest indication of a zone of pale- 

 brown spots round the end. Incidentally we may 

 remark that the Whinchat is also a frequenter of 

 the sorse coverts and the moorlands. In the late 

 summer, when the brood and parents are about the 

 fields, they resort to the corn, and even feed upon it ; 

 but the farmer need not be alarmed at their visits 

 to the grain, for they destroy a countless number of 

 injurious insects during their stay in the fields as an 

 ample recompense. A Whinchat we once dissected, 

 shot on the 29th of April, was crammed with small 

 beetles, ants, larvae of the drake- fly, and several 

 centipedes. In July and August the Whinchat is 

 moulting, and by the third week in September it has 

 departed with its young to the south, although it 

 prolongs its stay into October in Devonshire. These 

 smilino- meadows and orrain-fields are also the summer 

 home of the Tree Pipit, from April onwards to 

 September. This species also rears its young in a 

 slight nest amongst the grass, the cock bird spending 

 most of his time before the eggs are hatched in a 

 series of song flights from some favourite tree. W' e 

 knew a Tree Pipit to return for many years in succes- 



