THE FURZE-CHATS. 



301 



Then the male bird disappears altogether for a time, and the 

 observer fancies that he must have been on the wrong scent 

 altogether, when, after a long wait, the bird reappears on the 

 top of the bush where it was first seen. On lapping the furze, 

 a little brown object may be observed, scudding like the wind, 

 and disappearing behind the first shelter it can find, or flying 

 to a distant hedge, as if the nest were there. This is the female 

 bird, and the nest is certainly located, but even then it is not 

 visible. Only those who have taken several Whinchats' nests 

 under such circumstances know the difficulty with which the 

 nest is finally discovered, for, although it may be ultimately 

 found, it is necessary first to spot the " run " by which it is 

 approached. As with the Grasshopper- Warbler, this is some- 

 times two feet in length, and at the end of it is the nest with 

 the eggs. It is not always that the Whinchat builds in situa- 

 tions so difficult to discover, as sometimes the nest is built 

 amongst the grass, far away from any hedge or bush. 



In the autumn the old birds are seldom or never observed, 

 but the young birds are common, pursuing their insect prey in 

 the harvest-fields in the country, or frequenting the pastures 

 near the sea-shore, where they perch upon the thistles or low 

 bushes, or on the hedges which line the fields. The birds 

 may often be seen flying after insects in the air, after the 

 manner of Flycatchers, and they are very active in pursuit of 

 gnats and other flies, as evening approaches. 



Nest. Composed of dry grass, with a very little moss, and a 

 few straws on the outside. The interior cup is more neatly 

 woven, with finer grass and horsehair. 



Eggs. Four or five in number, greenish-blue, faintly speckled 

 with reddish-brown, the spots of the latter colour almost in- 

 visible, but sometimes collecting at the larger end of the egg 

 and forming a zone. Axis, 07-0-8 inch ; diam., 0-55-0-6. It 

 may be mentioned that the spotted eggs seem to be rather 

 larger and paler blue than the unspotted ones. 



THE STONECHAT. PRATINCOLA RUBICOLA. 



Motacilla rubicola, Linn., Syst. Nat, i., p. 332 (1766). 

 Fruticicola rubicola^ Macg., Br. B., ii., p. 279 (1839). 



