426 



A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



Under wing-coverts whitish 

 Under wing-coverts mostly dark 

 2nd primary longer than 5th . 

 2nd primary shorter than 5th . 



More earthy-brown . 

 More rufescent brown 



(E. isabellina, p. 443 

 5 



(E. cenanthe, ?, p. 427 

 6 



(E. pleschanka, $>, p. 442 

 (E. hispanica, ?, p. 43& 



CENANTHE CENANTHE 



176. CEnanthe cenanthe cenanthe (L.) THE WHEATEAR. 



MOTACILLA CENANTHE Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 186 (1758 



Europe. Restricted typical locality : Sweden). 



Saxicola cenanlhe (Linnaeus), Yarrell, i, p. 347 ; Saunders, p. 19 (part). 



DESCRIPTION (Plate 16). 

 Adult male. Winter. Fore- 

 head white, feathers with grey 

 tips concealing white in vari- 

 able degree ; rest of head, 

 nape, mantle, scapulars and 

 back pale french-grey, feathers 

 edged and tipped buffish- 

 brown (in quite fresh plumage 

 with very narrow faint whitish 

 margins) ; rump and upper 

 tail-coverts white ; line from 

 nostrils over and behind eye 

 white ; lores, under eye and 

 ear-coverts black, latter tipped 

 brown ; chin white ; throat 

 and breast pale to deep buff ; 

 rest of under -parts cream to 

 pale buff, under tail -co verts 

 slightly more buff ; under 

 wing-coverts and axillaries black, edged and tipped white ; tail- 

 feathers black tipped greyish-white, with white bases extending 

 in central pair to one-third or less but in rest to two-thirds of 

 length*; wing - feathers black, tipped, and outer webs edged 

 pale to rich buff, narrowly on primaries, more broadly on second- 

 aries ; greater coverts as secondaries but edgings usually greyer 



The Wheatear (CEnantfie OK. cenanthe). Male 



adult. Showing distribution of black in tail as 



compared with other species. 



* Amount of black on tail -feathers varies somewhat, but younger birds 

 usually have more black than adults on central tail-feathers, which are not 

 infrequently black to the base and very rarely so in adults. The following 

 measurements are taken from tip of feather to farthest extension of black. 

 cJ Adult winter and summer : Central tail-feathers, 28-40 mm ; outermost 

 tail-feathers, 16-24 mm. <$ 1st winter and 1st summer : Central tail- 

 feathers, 30-40 and often to base ; outermost tail-feathers, 16-25. 



