118 NOTES TO THE 



hawthorn or heath-bushes. The nest is composed of moss and 

 grass intermixed, and is lined with feathers and a little hair, but 

 it is usually a very loose structure. One in my collection has a 

 lining of fine grasses under the feathers. The eggs are of a pale 

 green, faintly spotted with buff colour ; they are sometimes almost 

 spotless ; at other times the spots are gathered towards the large 

 end. They often have a distinctly marked zone, and a few 

 distinct dots of a darker shade of the same colour. They are 

 laid during May and June ; the number is five or six. 



WHIN-CHAT. The Whin-chat (8. rubetra) " makes a nest of 

 moss and grass. The lining consists of the latter material, with 

 a few horse or cow-hairs added. One nest I have is almost 

 entirely composed of moss. The eggs are of a clear, deep greenish 

 blue, sometimes unspotted ; at other times more or less marked 

 with very small indistinct spots of buff. They are five or six 

 in number, and are laid from the middle of May to the end of 

 June. The nest is commonly placed on the ground under a 

 whin or hawthorn-bush, hid amongst grass or other herbage, and 

 is difficult to find." 



The whin-chat, although said to remain the whole year, arrives 

 in the spring and departs in September. Neither Mr. Davy nor 

 any of his men ever knew an instance of a whin chat being taken 

 in the winter months. The furzechat, or stonechat, does stay the 

 whole winter. The whinchat nests on the ground, and the cocks 

 and hens arrive at the same time. The furzechat breeds in the 

 fur/6 and is very common. 



SHEEP IN AUSTRALIA, p. 152. Mr. J. C. Sutherland, who has 

 farmed sheep in Tasmania, tells me that sheep were first intro- 

 duced into New South Whales not more than one hundred years 

 ago, by a man of the name of McArthur. The sheep originally 

 introduced were the merino of the purest breed. At this present 

 time they have crossed the merino with Leicesters, growing 

 a much heavier sheep and coarser wool. They made this cross 

 because the original breed were getting too small and the wool 

 too tine, the coarse wool now fetches as much in the London 

 markets as did the fine wool formerly. 



I am told that when a lamb dies, if the shepherd takes oft' 

 its skin and sews it on to the body of another lamb, the mother 

 recognising the smell of its own lamb allows the foster-lamb to 

 suck. This confirms White's idea that the animals know each 

 other by the smell more than by sight. When Fortune was 

 travelling in China to collect tea-seeds for the Indian Govern- 

 ment he spoke the language so well that he passed muster 



