WHIXCliA'i'. frulmcola, raiieiiu. 



*&:, 



STOXECHAT. Pratincola rubicola. 



cheerful fashion, twitters its pretty song, dives among the rich golden-ci owned bushes, and 

 reappears with a toss of the head, and a flirt of the wing, as if exulting in the exuberance 

 of its happiness. In the winter, the same bushes afford it concealment and shelter, for 

 the heavy masses of snow only rest upon the furze, and leave abundant open space 

 beneath, in which the little bird has perfect freedom of movement, and under which it is 

 sure to find worms and insects buried in the soil. Snails, slugs, and other similar creatures 

 always retire for the winter into sheltered spots, and they form many a meal for the Stone- 

 chat. Plantations, especially those that are made of young pines or firs, are favourite 

 haunts of the Stonechat ; but as the branches are all at some distance from the ground, 

 the bird seldom, if ever, attempts to build its nest under their shade. 



The Stonechat resembles the flycatcher in some of its habits, especially in its custom 

 of feeding on an elevated twig, the top of a post, or the highest pebble of a stone-heap, 

 and catching the flies as they pass by its perch. Unlike the flycatcher, however, it does 

 not make choice of one perch, and return to it day after day ; but after catching six or 

 seven flies upon one spot, flutters to another, and from that to a third, ever changing its 

 position from time to time. 



The nest of the Stonechat is made of mosses, grass of different kinds, and is lined with 

 fine fibres, hairs, and feathers. The number of the eggs is from four to six, and their 

 colour is very pale blue, diversified with numerous minute spots of reddish-brown upon 

 the large end of the shell. The colours of the Stonechat are rather pretty. The head, 

 the neck, the chin, throat, back, and tail, are deep sooty-black, contrasting boldly with the 

 pure white of the tertial wing-coverts, the upper tail-coverts, and the sides of the neck. 

 The remaining wing-coverts are deep brown, and the quill-feathers of the wings are also 

 brown. The breast is chestnut, and the abdomen yellowish-white. The total length of the 

 bird is rather more than five inches. 



THE bird which occupies the left-hand of the illustration is called the WHINCHAT, on 

 account of its fondness for the furze or whin. The Stonechat has, however, quite as much 

 right to the title, as it frequents the furze as constantly as the Whinchat. 



This species may be easily distinguished from the preceding, by the long and bold 

 white streak which passes across the sides of the head, and the absence of white upon the 



