WHEATEAE. 5 



Language. Song, loud, rather fluty and wild. When 

 alarmed it utters harsh cries like " tack-tack-tack," much 

 resembling the Blackbird. Call-note, a shrill kind of whistle. 



Habits. Much like the Blackbird ; very similar in the way 

 it hops about when seeking food, in its flight with the inevit- 

 able flirt of the tail when alighting, and in its behaviour when 

 alarmed. On their return in April they consort in flocks until 

 paired off. 



Food. Worms, grubs, slugs, snails, and insects ; soft fruits 

 and various berries in season. 



Nest. April or May. Probably two broods. 



Site. On the ground, in holes of banks, amongst rocks 

 concealed by furze or heather. Sometimes in low bushes. 



Materials. Pieces of heather, dead leaves, moss, and roots, 

 compacted with mud, lined with fine dry grasses. Much like 

 the Blackbird's. 



Eggs. Four or five. Besembling the Fieldfare's and Black- 

 bird's. Bluish green, spotted and mottled with reddish 

 brown. 



WHEATEAK (Saxicola amanthe). 



Migrant ; March to September. Local. Towards the North 

 more abundant, but it breeds in many suitable localities in the 

 South, and other districts abounding in rough, broken ground, 

 rabbit warrens, and open wastes near the coast. 



Plumage. Upper parts bluish grey. Forehead and streak 

 over eyes white. Lores and ear-coverts black ; under parts 

 white, tinged with buff. Wings almost black. Kump white ; 

 two middle tail-feathers black, rest white, tipped with black. 

 Bill and legs black. Length 6 in. Female, upper parts yel- 

 lowish brown ; ear-coverts dark brown, superciliary streak 

 dingy white. Young, spotted above and below, and wing and 

 tail-feathers margined with buff. 



Language. Song, a short and somewhat insignificant warble. 

 It has some powers of mimicry. Call-note, a sharp metallic 

 " chack " or "tack," like striking two pebbles smartly 

 together. 



Habits. Always conspicuous, for it readily takes to wing, 

 when the white rump at once attracts the eye. Fond of 

 perching on any little proclivity or point of vantage on the 

 rock-strewn and broken land which it always affects, it is con- 

 stantly flitting about from one rock to another. Insects cap- 

 tured on the wing, though food is usually taken on the ground, 

 where it runs rapidly, staying its progress at intervals, and 

 flirting its tail up and down. 



Food. Insects largely, and their larva? ; spiders, worms, 

 grubs, and small beetles. 



