358 SUMMER. 



labour that could be compensated by half a dozen of 

 little eggs; and we are induced to think that the 

 rock fort of the wheatear is sometimes a self-vic- 

 tualling one. Such stones on a bleak upland or 

 hill-side collect round them the fattest of the soil, 

 and the grasses and plants that are around their 

 margins are always of finer quality, and in richer 

 vegetation than those upon the open and unsheltered 

 places, where the wind sweeps along without meeting 

 with any resistance. The winds of all the year con- 

 spire to fatten those places ; the same winds have the 

 burgeoned tops of viviparous poas and festucas, which 

 are far from the worst of the upland grasses, and the 

 seeds of the leguminous plants ; and thus the shelter of 

 a large stone is really a little garden in the waste. 

 Those richer plants encourage a number of insects, 

 slugs, and worms, which are more sheltered from the 

 weather, and also better supplied with food than in 

 any other place. There is, therefore, no doubt that 

 the wheatear often finds provisions within her house ; 

 and when the insects come out in the morning, she is 

 at hand to make prize of them. Thus her pasture, 

 though to us it appears barren, is the very best 

 adapted to her habits. 



The constant appearance of the wheatear among 

 heaps of stones, the peculiarity of its note, the activity 

 of its running upon the ground, the peculiar jerk of its 

 tail, and, above all, the suddenness of its disappear- 

 ance into a hole when disturbed, have conspired to 

 make it in the Highlands a very much suspected bird, 

 and nearly as deeply concerned in diablerie as the 

 yellow hammer. And when the habits of a people 

 (they are somewhat changed now) that were separated 



