108 FAUNA OF SHROPSHIRE. 



Whinchat B. Provincial name, U-tick. Common in Sum- 



Pratincola rubctra. mer wherever gorse bushes are found, 



Apl. iv. Oct. i. and on meadows along the Severn 



Valley. Its nest is generally placed 



under a furze bush. Its provincial name is derived 



from its call note of U-tick, but it has also a pleasing 



little song which it usually utters while perched on the 



topmost spray of a gorse bush. It is easily distinguished 



from the Stonechat by the broad white line over the eye. 



Stonechat B. Common in Summer on moorlands, but not 



P. rubicola. so plentiful as the Whinchat. A few 



Apl. in. Oct. i. stay with us through the Winter in 



sheltered places. It is distinguished 



from the Whinchat by the uniformly black head and the 



white bar on the wing. 



Redstart B. Provincial name, Fiery-brand-tail; so called 

 Ruticilla phcenicurus. from the brightly coloured tail which 

 Mar. iv. Sept. n. seems to "flash red" as the bird flits 

 by. It is a common bird in Summer 

 and nests in holes in trees, gateposts, walls, etc. A few 

 years ago a pair succeeded in rearing a brood in the 

 Quarry, Shrewsbury, though the nest was most con- 

 spicuously placed on a boss low down on the trunk of 

 a tree. These birds were watched feeding the young on 

 caterpillars, of which each parent brought about fifty 

 per hour. 



Black Redstart. One killed near Wem in 1878, is in the 



R. titys. late Mr. Beckwith's collection. As its 



name implies, there is a good deal of 



black in the plumage, and the whole bird is darker than 



the common Redstart. 



