SAXICOLA. CENANTHE. 99 



Saxicola rubetra. WHINCHAT. 



Motacilla rubetra Linnceus, Syst. Nat. 1758, p. 186 : 



Sweden. 

 Pratincola rubetra (Linn.) ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds B. M. iv. 1879, 



p. 179; B. 0. U. List, 1st ed. 1883, p. 7; Saunders, 



Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 27. 



Rubetra= perhaps from rubeta, bramble thickets, or from ruber, ruddy ; but 

 neither derivation is satisfactory. 



Distribution in the British Islands. A Summer Visitor, 

 locally common and widely dispersed as far north as the 

 Orkneys. In Ireland it nests locally. A Bird of Passage 

 in autumn and spring when en route between its northern 

 continental summer haunts and its winter quarters in north 

 tropical Africa. It has been known to pass the winter 

 occasionally. 



General Distribution. The Whinchat breeds in Europe 

 from 70 N. latitude in Scandinavia down to the Mediter- 

 ranean, with the exception of Greece and southern Spain. It 

 winters in tropical Africa. In south Dalmatia, the Caucasus, 

 western Siberia, and perhaps north-west Africa, paler races 

 have been recognised. 



Genus (ENANTHE Vieillot, Analyse, 1816, p. 43. 

 Type : (E. cenanthe (Linn.). 



(Enanthe = bivavQr), the bird that appears when the vine shoots (Aristotle, 

 Hist. An. ix. 49 B, 8) ; from olvq = the vine, and dv6os = a blossom or sprout. 



(Enanthe cenanthe. WHEATEAR. 



Motacilla cenanthe Linnceus, Syst. Nat. 1758, p. 186 : 

 Sweden. 



Saxicola cenanthe (Linn.) ; Seelohm, Cat. Birds B. M. v. 1881, 

 p. 391 (part.) ; B. O. U. List, 1st ed. 1883, p. 6 ; Saunders, 

 Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 19. 



Distribution in the British Islands. A Summer Visitor 

 generally distributed over the downs and moorlands of the 

 British Islands, breeding up to 3000 ft. A Bird of Passage in 



H2 



