120 AVES INSESSORES. [SAXICOLA. 



pale edges : less white on the tail. (Male, after the autumnal moult.) 

 All those parts above, which in summer are bluish gray, tinged with 

 rufous : rump, and streak above the eye, pure white : lore pure black ; 

 but the black on the ear-coverts tinged with rufous : wing-coverts, and 

 secondary quills, broadly edged with rufous ; primaries tipped with red- 

 dish white: chin white; throat, breast, and sides of the neck, decided 

 rufous ; rest of the under parts paler, but still tinged with rufous. The 

 female, at this season, resembles the male, but is more rufous, with the 

 colours not so well-defined : the black streak through the eye indistinct ; 

 the white one above it dull and inclining to rufous. (Young of the year.) 

 General plumage closely resembling that of the female in autumn : the 

 band across the eyes very indistinct. (Egg.) Uniform delicate pale grey 

 blue : long. diam. ten lines and a half; trans, diam. seven lines and a half. 

 A migratory species, making its first appearance about the end of 

 March, and remaining till September. Common on open downs, and in 

 uninclosed districts. Builds on the ground, under stones, or in old 

 rabbit-burrows. Nest composed of moss and grass, and lined with wool 

 or hair. Obs. Previously to quitting this country, it assumes the 

 autumnal plumage, in which state it does not appear to have been 

 noticed by Ornithologists. 



71. S. Rubetra, Bechst. (Whin-Chat.) Upper plumage 

 dusky brown, edged with reddish yellow : streak above the 

 eyes, a spot on the wings, and base of the tail, white. 



S. Rubetra, Temm. Man. d'Orn. torn. i. p. 244. Whin-Chat, Mont. 

 Orn. Diet. Selb. Illust. vol. i. p. 183. pi. 48. f. 2. Bew. Brit. 

 Birds, vol. i. p. 266. 



DIMENS. Entire length five inches : length of the bill (from the fore- 

 head) five lines, (from the gape) eight lines ; of the tarsus ten lines ; of 

 the tail two inches; from the carpus to the end of the wing two 

 inches ten lines and a half; breadth, wings extended, eight inches 

 eleven lines. 



DESCRIPT. (Male.) Crown of the head, nape, back, and scapulars, dusky 

 brown, the feathers broadly edged with reddish yellow : from the base of 

 the upper mandible a white streak, passing above the eye, and extending 

 considerably beyond it : cheeks and ear-coverts blackish brown : throat 

 and breast pale yellowish red, edged laterally with white ; rest of the 

 under parts white, with a faint tinge of yellow: wings brown, with a 

 large oblong white patch near the shoulder, and another smaller one of 

 the same colour on the greater coverts of the primaries : rump and upper 

 tail-coverts yellowish brown streaked with dusky : tail short ; the basal 

 half white, the remainder dusky brown ; the two middle feathers entirely 

 dusky : bill and feet black. (Female.) The rufous edging of the upper 

 plumage broader and more conspicuous : less white on the wing : all the 

 under parts yellowish white, inclining to rust-red on the breast : upper 

 tail-coverts rust-red. (Egg.) Uniform bluish green, with specks (some 

 very minute) of dull reddish brown : long. diam. nine lines ; trans, diam. 

 six lines and a half. 



Migratory like the last species: seldom appears before the middle 

 of April. Haunts moors and commons. Nest placed on the ground, 

 artfully concealed, constructed almost wholly of dried grasses and 

 stalks, the coarser parts being on the outside, and the finer blades 

 forming a lining within. Eggs five or six in number; hatched towards 

 the end of Mav. 



