CHAPTER V 



WIIEATEAR STONECHAT WHINCHAT RED- 

 BREAST WHITETHROAT HEDGE-SPARROW 

 SKY-LARK 



No large piece of waste ground or moor would be 

 complete without its Wheatears ; and these 

 sprightly little birds are well worth some careful 

 attention, either when they first arrive in this 

 country, and are busily engaged in attending to 

 the duties of nidification ; or later, when preparing 

 for migration, they will congregate on moors and 

 downs of the open country. 



Years ago great numbers were taken by shep- 

 herds on the South Downs, where they were 

 considered to be a great delicacy by many people ; 

 and to judge by the numbers caught, there must 

 have been a brisk demand for them. Thus we 

 read of two thousand dozen being snared in one 



