THE PERCHING BIRDS 



and some remain very late in the plowed fields of the midland counties. Number- 

 less pairs spend the summer months playing about the rabbit holes which line the 

 sand banks that form the coast line in many districts of Britain. The wheatear 

 builds its nest in a variety of situations: sometimes in a loose heap of stones, some- 

 times in a rabbit hole or beneath a heap of dried peats, and we once found a family 

 packed into an old tin pot lying in a hollow of a shingly seabeach. The eggs are 



WHEATEAR, WHINCHAT, AND STONECHAT. 

 (One-half natural size.) 



light blue. The song consists of some very sweet notes, generally uttered upon the 

 wing. These birds leave the British shores chiefly in August and September, al- 

 though some commence their journey in July, while other belated stragglers linger 

 on into early winter. The range of the wheatear is very extensive, including, 

 according to season, a great part of Asia north of the Himalayas (including Gilgit), 

 Africa, and North America. The adult male in the breeding season has the crown 



