54 BRITISH BIRDS 



times. He feeds on grubs, small beetles, and other insects picked 

 up from the ground, but also pursues and catches flying insects. 

 He has a short, sharp call-note that sounds like two pieces of stone 

 struck smartly together; hence the name of 'stone-clatter,' by 

 which he is known in some localities. His short and simple song 

 would attract little attention in groves and gardens ; it is charming 

 on account of the barren, silent situations it is heard in. It gives life 

 to the solitude, and is a love-song, accompanied by pretty gestures 

 and motions, and is frequently uttered as the bird hovers in the air. 



The wheatear breeds in a cavity under a stone, or in a hole or 

 crevice in a stone wall ; also in cairns and in the cavities in peat- 

 stacks, and occasionally in a disused rabbit-burrow or under a clod 

 of earth. The nest is made of dry grass, loosely put together and 

 slightly lined with some soft material moss and rootlets, rabbits' 

 fur, horsehair, or wool, or feathers. From four to seven eggs are 

 laid, pale greenish blue in colour, in some cases faintly marked with 

 purplish specks at the large end. 



The wheatear, owing to its wide distribution in this country, 

 is known by a variety of local names in different districts ; of these 

 may be mentioned fa llowchat, whitetail, stone-cracker, chacJc-bird, 

 and clod-hopper. 



Two other species of the genus Saxicola have been included in 

 the list of British birds. These are the black-throated wheatear 

 (Saxicola strapazina), of which a single specimen has been 

 obtained, and the desert wheatear (Saxicola deserti),oi which two 

 or three specimens have been shot. 



Whinchat. 

 Pratincola rubetra. 



Upper parts dusky brown edged with reddish yellow ; broad 

 white stripe over the eye; throat and sides of neck white; neck 

 and breast bright yellowish red ; a large white spot on the wings and 

 base of the tail; tip of the tail and the two middle feathers dusky 

 brown ; belly and flanks yellowish white. Female : colours duller ; 

 white spot on the wing smaller. Length, five inches and a 

 quarter. 



Of the three British species forming this group of two genera 



