THE FURZE-CHATS. 305 



than the back, and lined with buff; under surface of body 

 tawny-buff, mottled wirh brown spots on the lower throat and 

 chest. 



NOTE. The black breast of the male Stonechat with its large white 

 neck-spot always serve to distinguish the bird from the Whinchat, which 

 has also a white base to the tail, very conspicuous when the bird is flying ; 

 whereas the Stonechat has only a little white spot, formed by the upper 

 tail-coverts. The hen Stonechat certainly resembles the Whinchat more 

 closely, but is darker in appearance, has no white on the tail, and has a 

 large black spot on the lower throat ; the breast and abdomen rufous, in- 

 stead of creamy-buff. 



Range in Great Britain. The Stonechat is generally distributed 

 over the British Islands, but is decidedly a local bird. It is 

 generally resident, but is also a migrant to a large extent. 



Range outside the British Islands. A local bird in most parts 

 of Europe, being more common in the south. Mr. Howard 

 Saunders records it as breeding in Southern Spain, even in 

 the hot plains below Seville ; and it is a species which occurs 

 throughout the Mediterranean countries. Throughout Cen- 

 tral Europe it is a local bird, and does not extend nearly so 

 far north as the Whinchat, its northern range being almost 

 bounded by the Baltic, with the exception of Southern Sweden, 

 where the Stonechat is also found. Eastwards it extends to 

 the Volga, but its breeding-range is limited, according to Mr. 

 Seebohm, to 50 W. long. From the Petchora valley eastwards 

 through Siberia to China and Japan, and southwards to India 

 and the Burmese countries, our Stonechat is represented by an 

 allied species, Pratincola maura, with unspotted white upper 

 tail-coverts and entirely black axillaries. In winter the Stone- 

 chat visits Senegambia. 



Habits. The ways of the present species are very like those 

 of the Whinchat, but it is more of a heath-frequenting bird 

 than the last-named species. It is, in fact, not seen so much 

 in the pasture-land or grass-fields, and, being only migratory to 

 a small extent, it does not frequent the coast-lands to the same 

 extent as the Whinchat. Nevertheless, the two species are 

 often found side by side, and they nest in the same districts. 

 Their note is similar u-tack well expresses it and they have 

 the same habits of sitting on the top of a furze-bush and flying 

 from one bush to another, when they want to deceive an in- 



