58 THE BIRDS OF SUSSEX. 



vatecl fields, flitting about from bush to bush, feeding on 

 insects and berries, particularly on blackberries. 



I am not aware of its having any actual song, its usual 

 note being a hurried repetition of the syllables '' tic-tic." 



It is fond of perching about on the haycocks in haymaking 

 time, and builds its nest on the ground, formed of grass, and 

 lined with the finer portions of the same. 



In the northern counties "Whin" is the name of what 

 we call " Furze," whence they call tliis bird " Whinchut" 

 and we Fur^echat, both, of course, from its fondness for 

 that shrub. In some parts of Sussex it is also known as the 

 Barleyear, though from what cause I have never been able 

 to discover. This and the Stonechat are also known as the 

 " Stonechucker." 



WHEATEAR. 



Saccicola cenanthe. 



The Wheatear is, I think, the earliest of our immigrants, 

 as I was in the habit, some years since, of riding to a certain 

 spot on the Downs every spring, on purpose to see if it had 

 yet come, and there are fcAv seasons in which I have not 

 found it there on the 1st of Marcli. It arrives sometimes 

 in large numbers together. I remember on the morning of 

 the 22nd of March, 1881, at Eastbourne, the beach about 

 7 A.M. was completely covered with them, and they were 

 sitting in numbers on the small trees, and on the backs of 

 the seats on the esplanade, and I saw also several parties of 

 ten or a dozen arriving from the sea. They did not appear 

 at all fatigued, and on my going again to the esplanade at 

 10.30 there was not one to be seen. 



A celebrated old shepherd of the South Downs, in a com- 



