52 



BRITISH BIRDS 



iitrit/iilaris), a straggler from Central Siberia ; White's thrush (T. 

 varius), from North-east Siberia ; and the rock-thrush (Monticola 

 saxatilis), from South Europe, a member of a group that connects 

 the true thrushes (Turdus) with the wheatears (Saxicola). 



Wheatear. 



Saxicola cenanthe. 



FIG. 22. WHEATEAR. ^ natural size. 



Upper parts bluish grey ; wings and wing-coverts, centre and 

 extremity of the tail, feet, bill, and area comprising the nostrils, 

 eyes, and ears, black ; base and lower portion of the side of the 

 tail pure white ; chin, forehead, stripe over the eye, and under 

 parts, white. In autumn, upper parts reddish brown and tail 

 feathers tipped with white. Female : upper parts ash -brown tinged 

 with yellow ; stripe over the eye dingy. Length, six and a half 

 inches. 



To those who are attracted to solitary, desert places, who find 

 in wildness a charm superior to all others, the wheatear, conspicu- 

 ous in black and white and bluish grey plumage, is a familiar 



