CHATS AND WARBLERS. 85 



CHATS AND WARBLERS. 



A LTHOUGTT the whole of the birds we hare now to describe 

 are classed by some ornithologists in the family Sylviancc, Mac- 

 gillivray groups the Warblers only under that head, and places the 

 Chats and the Wheatear in the Saxicolince, a distinct family, all the 

 members of which bear a more or less decided resemblance to the 

 last mentioned. 



In general form the birds in this group are somewhat alike. Wiey 

 have slender bodies, with rather large and ovate heads; their bills 

 are short, straight, slender, and tapering, and their wings of moderate 

 length, with eighteen quill feathers; their tails, which are composed 

 of twelve feathers, are also of moderate length. With the exception 

 of the Stonechat, they are all migratory birds, generally departing in 

 the month of October. They possess the power of emitting sweet 

 and agreeable notes, and thus enliven the wild and desolate places in 

 which they dwell. 



The Stone and Whin Chats belong to the genus Frittiticnla, and the 

 Wheatear to the Saxicola; their favourite resorts are open commons 

 find heaths, where furze bushes, brambles, sloes, or other shrubs 

 abound; and they are fond of perching on heaps of stones or other 

 elevations, from whence they make short, but swift, darting flights, 

 in pursuit of the winged insects that form their principal food. They 

 hop rapidly on the ground, and have a curious jerky motion of the 



