WHEA TEARS AND RABBITS t 95 



easily be found by watching the movements of the 

 birds ; bat from my own experience, I have 

 found the truth to be exactly the opposite. 



Lying in hiding under a furze-bush on a rabbit- 

 warren on a certain evening, I endeavoured to find 

 the site of a nest ; but not once did the birds enter 

 the burrow in which they had built and hidden 

 their home. On the next evening I returned to 

 the same place of concealment, and waited with no 

 better result. While lying at full length on the 

 grass, several rabbits came out of their burrows and 

 commenced to play and skip about within three 

 yards of me. One of the Wheatears also came 

 and sat on the bush under which I was concealed, 

 and kept on calling tack, tack, to its companion. I 

 was able to see that both birds had food in their 

 beaks, and thus conjectured that they had a brood 

 to look after ; and judging by the time they 

 lingered near a certain burrow, I guessed that that 

 might possibly be the place where the nest might 

 be found. On the next day I once more went to 

 the spot with my camera, in hopes of getting a 

 photograph ; and I was at last successful in obtain- 

 ing a likeness of the cock and another of the hen. 

 As it was a clay of drizzling rain, it seemed that the 

 birds would be more likely to. enter their nest than 

 to remain outside for any length of time. After 



