240 THE WHEATEAH. 



The back of the female is reddish grey, and the under parts 

 of the body darker than in the male ; the lesser wing-coverts 

 are edged with rust-red, and the white of the tail is not so 

 clear as in the male, but is of a reddish tint. 



The young ones, before moulting, are spotted with red on a 

 dark brown ground, on the upper part of the body ; on the 

 under speckled with orange and black. After moulting, both 

 males and females retain for another year the colour of the 

 female on the back, that is to say, reddish grey. 



HABITATION When wild this species frequents stony and mountainous 

 places ; and, during their migration, they may be seen resting in the fields, 

 on the tops of isolated stakes, and other similar places ; rarely on trees or 

 hushes. They take their departure during the first fortnight in September, 

 and return towards the middle of April, when white frosts cease. 



In the house those birds must be kept in nightingales' cages, or shut up 

 behind a grating, and not suffered to range until accustomed in their prison 

 to their new food ; for, unless taken good care of at first, they will soon 

 die. They can rarely be tamed 



FOOD. When wild they feed on flies and other insects, which they 

 catch as they run along. 



In the house they must be given plenty of meal-worms and ants' eggs 

 as soon as they are taken; for, if not fed profusely, they will die, and 

 what is rather astonishing, of diarrhea, although they have not eaten any 

 of the common house-food. Afterwards they may be fed on nightingales' 

 food, and occasionally on white bread soaked in boiled milk ; yet, with 

 every attention, they can rarely be preserved more than two years. 



BREEDING. Their nests, formed of stalks of grass and feathers, aro 

 generally placed in the crevices of some stone-quarry, sometimes in holes 

 on the banks of streams or rivers, or in an empty mole-hill, or even on a 

 heap of stones. They lay from five to six eggs, of a greenish white. To 

 rear the young ones, they must be taken when half-fledged, and fed on 

 ants' eggs and white bread soaked in boiled milk. 



MODE OF TAKING. Limed twigs must be placed on the stones or stakes 

 where these birds rest, or even on sticks fixed in the ground for the purpose, 

 and they mvist be driven gently towards the snares. 



ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES. No one would take the (rouble to tame a 

 full-grown wheatear, unless passionately fond of keeping birds. I have 

 one, that, by the use of plenty of fresh ants' eggs, has been accustomed to 

 range the room. Its plumage is pleasing, its actions graceful ; it is con- 

 tinually waving and spreading its fine tail. Its song is passable, but is 

 interrupted every now and then by a kind of scream. 



MR. SWEET'S ACCOUNT OF THE WHEATEAR. 



The present interesting species generally arrives in this 

 country about the middle of March, and leaves it again the 



