1656 THE PERCHING BIRDS 



brown. When the young are fledged, they live in a family party with the old birds, 

 which exhibit the greatest anxiety over the safety of their progeny. Subsisting 

 upon insects, and especially beetles, the whinchat is very partial to warm, sunny 

 situations, especially if they are well bushed and command a southerly aspect. It 

 leaves its home in Central and Northern Europe in August and September, rarely, 

 if ever, delaying its departure into late autumn. The adult male has the crown and 

 upper parts blackish brown, many of the feathers having light buff edges. The tail 

 is white, banded with blackish brown for the terminal half, while the throat and 

 under parts are pale fawn color, varying much in intensity. A conspicuous white 

 eyebrow is also present. 



The stonechat (S. rubicola) is found throughout Central and several 

 parts of Northern Europe, being a resident in many places, while to 

 others it is but a summer or winter migrant. During the summer, generally to be 

 found on common lands, chalk-downs, or other open places, the stonechat is an early 

 breeder, nesting in April, and concealing its choice of a site with much care. In 

 Oxfordshire stonechats seem to be very partial to aquatic situations, one old male 

 having haunted a certain wet ditch close beside the Isis for several months during 

 one winter; and they have been known to build at the bottom of a hedge adjoining 

 a flooded meadow. The stonechat builds its nest of moss and dried grass, lining it 

 with feathers and hair; the eggs being pale greenish blue, finely spotted with reddish 

 brown. The stonechat has a short but rather pretty song, and is a somewhat noisy 

 species when its haunts are invaded. The adult male in summer has the entire head 

 and back glossy black, with a white collar; the tail is blackish brown, the outer 

 feathers having the outer web light buff; and the under parts are rufous, but vary 

 considerably in different individuals. The female is a browner bird than her mate. 

 This group of the genus is represented by several species in India, where they are 

 commonly known as bush chats. 



The redstarts and robins, together with the Indian group of fork- 

 tails, bring us to another subfamily (Rutidllince) , differing mainly from 

 the chats in their habits; these birds being terrestrial, and capturing their insect 

 prey on the ground, instead of flying from a perch and returning thereto, after the 

 manner of the flycatchers. They have a slender, compressed beak, a long meta- 

 tarsus, and feet well adapted for running; and the majority of the species are deni- 

 zens of Europe and Asia, north of and including the Himalayas. The first genus 

 of this subfamily is formed by the Indian fork tails (Henicurus), which are small 

 birds, having the general appearance of pied wagtails, but differing from them in 

 possessing a forked tail and ten primaries, together with a coarse bill. The type 

 has the bill nearly as large as the head, stout and straight; the rictal bristles are well 

 developed; the wing is large, the first primary being about half the length of the 

 second; and the tail is much, longer than the wing, and deeply forked; the outer tail 

 feathers being one-third longer than the innermost ones. Fork tails are chiefly 

 found in the Himalayas, and generally in the neighborhood of mountain streams, 

 but they also range into Tenasserim. All are solitary in their habits, and move 

 their tails incessantly up and down after the manner of wagtails, and are in the habit 

 of generally perching on rocks or bare branches near the ground. 



