THE WHEATEAR. 219 



want, is base in disposition, meagre in body, a fugi- 

 tive, and a coward. 



The wheatear (sylvia oenanthe) frequents annually 

 our open commons and stone quarries, and breeds 

 there. I have seen it with nesting materials in its 

 bill, and have had its eggs, though rarely, brought 

 me. This bird visits England early in the spring, 

 and continues with us till nearly the end of Septem- 

 ber, that is, during the entire breeding-season. Yet 

 it is remarkable, notwithstanding its numbers, and 

 the little concealment which its haunts afford, how 

 rarely its nests are found. Its principal place of 

 resort is the South Downs in Sussex ; and it appears, 

 from the accounts of the most experienced and cre- 

 dible persons of that county, from whom I have 

 my information, that the females are performing 

 their duties of incubation during the month of 

 March \ as at that time scarcely any but male birds 

 are visible, of which hundreds are then flying about ; 

 while the females with their families appear early in 

 May, and are captured afterwards in great numbers : 

 yet the oldest shepherds have seldom seen their 

 nest ! But in fact no bird conceals its nest with 

 more artifice than the wheatear ; and in consequence 

 of this circumstance, and the retired places in which 

 it fixes, its summer residence, very many of the 

 young ones are produced. This summer (June 15, 

 1828) I appointed a boy to watch two hen birds to 

 their retreat, and after some hours of vigilance he 

 succeeded and gave me notice; one had made her 

 nest deep in the crevice of a stone-quarry, so care- 



