274 SYLVIAD^E. 



uniform bluish greeu, with some minute specks of dull 

 reddish brown ; the length of the egg nine lines, and six 

 lines and a half in breadth. Mr. Jenyns says, the young 

 are hatched towards the end of May, and two broods are 

 produced in the season. In the month of August, when 

 fat, though smaller in size than the Wheatear, they are 

 not otherwise inferior to it as an article of food for the 

 table. 



Whinchats may rather be said to be general than nu- 

 merous, and are usually seen in pairs only, till their young 

 leave the nest. They are observed in all the counties 

 around London ; and in a southern and western direction, 

 in Hampshire and Dorsetshire ; but more rare in Devon- 

 shire, and still more so in Cornwall. Montagu says they 

 are plentiful in Somersetshire, Wiltshire, and Gloucester- 

 shire ; are observed in Wales ; and, according to Mr. 

 Templeton and Mr. Thompson, are regular summer visitors 

 to Ireland. North of the counties surrounding London, 

 the Whinchat is seen in Suffolk, Norfolk, Yorkshire, Dur- 

 ham, and Northumberland ; and, still further north, was 

 seen by Mr. Selby in Sutherland, and by Mr. Macgillivray 

 in the Hebrides ; but is not included among the Birds of 

 Orkney or Shetland. 



The Whinchat visits Denmark, and was observed by Mr. 

 Hewitson to be rather numerous in those parts of Norway 

 that were clear of wood ; and, according to M. Nilsson, it 

 arrives in Sweden by the end of April. It is found also, 

 according to Pennant, in the temperate parts of Russia as 

 far as the Uralian chain, but does not reach Siberia. In 

 summer it is found over the whole of the South of Europe 

 to the shores of the Mediterranean. It is seen at Genoa 

 and in Italy on its passage to the south and east in Sep- 

 tember ; it is seen also at Corfu, Sicily, Malta, Egypt, and 



