THE WHEATEAR. 3 



the Wheatear arrives much later than in Eng- 

 land, and does not stay the winter. With 

 regard to Scotland, Macgillivray states 1 that it 

 is nowhere more plentiful than in the outer 

 Hebrides, and in the Orkney and Shetland 

 Islands ; and from the fact of his having ob- 

 served the species near Edinburgh on the 28th 

 of February, we may infer that a few, as in 

 England, occasionally remain throughout the 

 year. 



The number of Wheatears which used to 

 be taken years ago upon the South Downs in 

 autumn was a matter of notoriety. 



" Hereabouts," says an old chronicle of East- 

 bourne, " is the chief place for catching the 

 delicious birds called Wheatears, which much 

 resemble the French Ortolans ; " and Wheatears 

 play an important part in the history of this 

 town. Squire William Wilson, of Hitching, 

 Lord of the Manor of East-Bourne, was in 

 Oliver Cromwell's time vehemently suspected 



i 



Hist. Brit. Birds/' ii. p. 292. 



