288 SYLVIAM. 



insects, some of which are taken on the wing, the bird re- 

 turning to its former elevated position on a lump of earth, 

 or the top of a stone, from whence it keeps a sharp look- 

 out, both as a measure of precaution as well as for food ; 

 but is not so prone to alight on a bush as either of the 

 species of Saxicola already described. 



The Wheatears begin to make their nest in the southern 

 parts of our island by the middle of April ; and on the sea- 

 coast, where some remain. Mr. Couch says, "Our prying 

 fisher-boys inform me that it is concealed in the bottom of 

 a deep recess, beneath some huge stone or rock, far beyond 

 the reach of their arm. Consequently, when discovered, 

 a circumstance of some difficulty, they are able to obtain 

 it only by means of a hook fastened to the end of a rod." 

 The Wheatear frequently makes its nest in old walls, or 

 in pits from which stone, gravel, sand, or chalk have been 

 dug out. In the Journal of a Naturalist, Mr. Knapp says, 

 " One had made her nest deep in the crevice of a stone- 

 quarry, so carefully hidden by projecting fragments as not 

 to be observed from without until part of the rock was 

 removed ; her fabric was large and rudely constructed with 

 dried bents, scraps of shreds, feathers, and rubbish, col- 

 lected about the huts on the down, and contained four pale 

 blue eggs. Another hen-bird had descended through the 

 interstices of some rather large loose stones, as a mouse 

 would have done, and then proceeded laterally to a hollow 

 space in a bank, against which the stones were laid ; and 

 so deep had she penetrated, that many of the stones had to 

 be removed before we could discover her treasure : as no 

 appearances led to any suspicion of a nest, it would never 

 have been detected but for our watchfulness." 



The same degree of caution, however, is not always ob- 

 servable. In Suffolk and Norfolk, the Wheatear, accord- 

 ing to Mr. Salmon, " is very abundant on the warrens, and 



