242 THE WHINCHAT. 



old birds black, but streaked with pale rust-red, as all the 

 feathers are edged with this colour ; a white line, beginning at 

 the nostrils, passes above the eyes as far as the ears ; the cheeks 

 are dusky, spotted with chestnut; the throat and breast are 

 yellow, inclining to orange, the former edged with white on 

 the sides and chin. 



The colours are paler in the female, the streak above the eyes 

 is yellowish ; the upper part of the body dark brown, spotted 

 with rust ; the cheeks dark brown ; the throat reddish-white ; 

 the breast pale orange, with small round, black and brown 

 spots, which gradually disappear from age. 



These birds vary till the third year. The young ones, which 

 may be seen perched on cabbages and other plants, even on 

 strong wheat stalks, have the whole of the upper part of the 

 body covered with red and blackish spots, and each feather 

 edged with this colour before the first moulting; the under 

 part of the body is like the female. I killed two in their 

 second year, that still had dusky spots on the breast, though 

 they had become darker on the back; in general, the two 

 sexes may be distinguished by the deep brown of the cheeks 

 and back. 



HABITATION When wild they generally frequent the skirts of woods. 



They appear amongst us the heginning of May, and depart towards the end 

 of September. In August they may he seen scattered over the fields, on 

 the stalks of plants, or detached bushes. 



In the house they must be kept in a nightingale's cage. 



BREEDING. The nest, constructed of dried grass mixed with. moss, lined 

 with hair and feathers, is commonly placed in a tuft of grass in the middle 

 of a meadow or orchard. The females lay five or six eggs, of a fine light 

 blue. Young ones reared on ants' eggs succeed much better than those 

 taken full grown. 



MODE OF TAKING In spring, when some of these birds are seen in a 

 field or meadow, sticks, furnished with limed twigs, should be stuck there, 

 and the birds gently driven to that side, to induce them to settle, which 

 they will soon do. In summer, the noose, spiing-trap, and limed twigs, 

 must be employed in the following manner : If the noose is used, a stake 

 must be set up, about three feet high, slit at the top tc put in crossways a 

 stick three inches long, and the noose is placed an inch and a half above, to 

 be of the height of the bird's breast when it is perched on the stick. 



If limed twigs are used, forked switches three feet long should bo 

 employed : the fork, four inches in length, must be covered with bird-lime. 

 Spring-traps or gins must be suspended to small stakes or cabbage stalks. 

 As soon as a sufficient number of these spring-traps, snares, and limed 

 twigs, are prepared, they must be carried to a cabbage garden, when a 



