OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY 15 



Keeping a little way ahead of us, for more than half 

 a mile, as we began the ascent, there was a Wheatear 

 (Saxicola cenanthe\ flitting restlessly from rock to 

 rock. In reality, there was probably a succession of 

 Wheatears. It is a very conspicuous bird when it flies, 

 because of the bright white splash above the tail, which 

 may possibly serve to direct the hawk's aim away from 

 more vulnerable parts. There is no doubt that hawks 

 harry Wheatears, but we wonder if there is not as much 

 danger as gain in the white rump. Moreover, the bird 

 is always advertising its presence by uttering the loud 

 "chack,chack," like the sound of stones knocked sharply 

 together. The fact is that it finds safety in its clever- 

 ness in seeking concealment in small holes or in bushes. 

 Perhaps the white rump is only an additional decora- 

 tion to the very handsome plumage of a very alert bird. 

 The Wheatear is one of our earliest summer visitors, 

 arriving about the middle of March ; it makes a grass 

 nest lined with hair and feathers in the recess of a dry 

 stone-wall, in a discarded rabbit's burrow, or in a peat- 

 stack on the moor; and, however reckless the bird may 

 be in calling attention to its own presence, it is most 

 scrupulously careful not to give away the secret of the 

 brood. We always associate the Wheatear with rough 

 ground on which whins grow, where there are heaps 

 of loose stones and outcrops of lichen-covered rock; 

 but it goes far up the hills, hunting for spiders and 

 small insects. It sometimes finds a good many very 

 minute snails which are much appreciated. 



The Wheatear seemed a particularly cheerful bird 

 that morning, and that is its character. The courting 

 gaiety of the male is beyond description. It is ex- 

 pressed in remarkable feats of flight ? in dances, in 



