BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 123 



Wbtncbat 



THE Whinchat (Pratincola rubetra, Linnaeus) is a fairly 

 well distributed summer visitant to the British Islands. It 

 spends the summer throughout temperate Europe, and in 

 winter is a resident in Northern Africa. The adult male 

 has the crown of the head, back, and wing-coverts, 

 brownish-black; the feathers margined with ochreous- 

 yellow; spot on bastard wing, white; a white line passes 

 from the base of the bill over the eyes reaching to the 

 nape of the neck ; ear-coverts and cheeks, brownish-black ; 

 chin and a streak along the sides of the neck, white ; rump, 

 yellowish-brown, with streaks of blackish-brown ; tail, dark 

 brown, with bases of all outermost feathers white; centre 

 of throat and breast, fawn colour, shading into pale buff 

 on belly; irides, brown ; bill, legs, and feet, black. Length, 

 about five inches. 



