THE WHEATEAR. 357 



the nightingale, the Dartford warbler, and the Cornish 

 chough, among resident birds. 



The wheatear comes rather earlier than some of the 

 birds, finding its way to England in March, and to the 

 Orkneys in April. Bare and stony places are its 

 favourite retreats, and its cry, which is not very unlike 

 the word " cherk," is often heard in places where, from 

 the scantiness of provisions for them, there are few 

 other creatures. Probably that may be one of the 

 reasons why the birds are so numerous. There are 

 few plunderers in such a place. The weasel would 

 starve ; no bird of prey could get at the nest, which is 

 generally a considerable way under a stone; and 

 while the bird sits chatting upon the top of the 

 " cairn," it slips into a crevice, and disappears the 

 moment that it is too closely approached. When stones 

 are not at hand, the wheatear can excavate or burrow 

 in the earth to a considerable depth ; but it chooses 

 for that purpose, where it can, that sterile and in- 

 durated mixture of clay and sand, which is often met 

 with in extensive beds upon the slopes of the moun- 

 tains, which resists the weather, and partially also the 

 action of the streams, and would only require to be 

 burnt in order to become very good brick. The nest 

 is more generally in stony places ; and in the wilds, 

 where a great stone lies upon the surface with a little 

 opening below, if the situation is not very elevated, 

 one is almost certain that there is a wheatear 's nest, 

 more impregnable than the fortalice of any other bird. 

 It is generally so contrived, or rather it generally so 

 happens, that the ground below is so lined, that no 

 large animal could scrape into it with any quantity of 



