THE WHINCHAT. 77 



this bird is found upon the mountains which skirt the Alps, 

 in Switzerland, and Southern Germany. In those pasture 

 lands it is as abundant as the Skylark with us. In winter 

 it visits the valleys, and frequents barns near villages, 

 where it is commonly caught in great numbers. They 

 generally perch upon the ground, where they run as swiftly 

 as the Wagtails, jump upon stones, and but rarely perch 

 upon trees ; their song is pleasing, but anxious and melan- 

 choly ; they comport themselves elegantly, and in hop- 

 ping frequently move the tail and wings ; they feed upon 

 seeds and insects, and build upon the ground, occasionally 

 in the fissures of rocks, and are thence sometimes called 

 Rock Larks. 



WEOrCHAT. 



THE WHIN BUSHCHAT (Saxtcola, or Fruticicola ruletra), 

 sometimes called the Whin, or Furze Chat. The plumage 

 of this little bird is chiefly of a bright yellowish red colour, 

 with blackish brown markings. There is a yellowish white 

 band over the eye, a patch on the wing, a band on each 

 side of the neck, and the base of the tail are also white ; 

 the length of the bird is about five inches and a quarter ; 

 it is but a summer resident in our island, seldom arriving 

 on the coast till the middle of April, nor is it dispersed over 

 the country till the end of that month, or the beginning of 



