WHINCHAT. Ill 



another, uttering, at the same time, their unvary- 

 ing clicking note, which has given them their 

 provincial name. When the young are newly 

 hatched, or rearing, this anxiety is very marked ; 

 but at other times, a few short and not unpleasing 

 notes are uttered, while on its perch, or when 

 fluttering over the bushes, or tall herbaceous plants. 

 They have also the same manner of flitting before 

 a person, dog, or any disliked intruder, with the 

 last described species ; but when having con- 

 veyed them to a safe distance, they return, by one 

 or two lengthened flights, to their usual haunt. 



The crown, cheeks, and vent, are brownish- 

 black, each feather broadly margined with ochre 

 vellow ; from the nostrils, over each eye, and 

 above the auricular feathers, runs a white streak ; 

 and on the sides of the neck, and on the scapulars 

 there are white patches, the latter contrasting with 

 the pure black which covers the shoulders. The 

 wings and tail are brownish-black, the feathers 

 of the former edged with ochraceous, and the 

 feathers of the latter, except the two in the 

 centre, being white at the base, that mark which 

 runs through many of the members of this sub- 

 family ; the shaft of the feather runs along each, 

 conspicuously black. The chin is white, but the 

 throat, breast, and flanks, are pale orange-brown, 

 shading into white on the belly, vent, and under 

 tail coverts. The female has more of the ochra- 

 ceous tint on the upper parts ; the shoulders are 

 blackish-brown, and want the white patch ; and 

 the tail does not exhibit the white band so dis- 



