PERCHING BIRDS. 69 



the shape of rocks for many miles around us, and the 

 fact seems to be one of those inexplicable ones which 

 baffle all our conjectures to find a cause. I have not 

 met with it since, but I should not be surprised to 

 find a few pairs breeding regularly in the neighbour- 

 hood. 



Those pretty little birds, the Stonechat (S. rubicola) 

 and the Whinchat (S. rubetra), are very common, parti- 

 cularly on the furze-clad parts of the forest, which they 

 much enliven by their active and restless habits. They 

 are almost exclusively found in wild localities like these, 

 seldom intruding on the limits of cultivation. The 

 stonechat resides with us all the year round, but I think 

 not in equal abundance, a partial emigration appearing 

 to take place in the autumn, while their numbers are in- 

 creased in the spring. It is a snug-looking, compactly- 

 built bird ; and the male in the breeding plumage, with 

 the deep black head and rufous breast, is really hand- 

 some, though there is much variation in the distinctness 

 and brilliancy of the colours. Perched on the top of a 

 furze bush or a prominent sprig of heath, these birds 

 utter their singular notes, " chat, chat, chat," from which 

 they take their name ; and though rather shy and wary, 

 I have often called them close to me by rapping two 

 stones together, and thus producing an exact imitation 

 of their call. While perched in this manner, they jerk 

 their tail and wings simultaneously with the utterance 

 of their cry, then perchance dart to the ground to cap- 

 ture an insect, and again flit to their post of observa- 

 tion, rarely remaining many minutes in one spot. They 

 seem to be very constant in their attachments, seldom 

 being seen otherwise than in pairs even during the 

 winter; and I think that only the old birds remain 



