498 



NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



sidered members of the Muscicapidae, on account of their somewhat broader bills, 

 shorter tarsi, and stronger rictal bristles. The wheatears (Saxicola) form a very marked 

 group of peculiar coloration, black and white being the chief colors, often combined 

 with gray on the back. Both these and the bush-chats (Pratincola) are exclusively 

 Old World inhabitants, with the exception of Saxicola cenanthe, the wheatear figured, 

 inasmuch as it invades the North American fauna from both sides, over Iceland and 



FIG. 243. Saxicola ananthe, wheatear ; Pratincola rubetra, wlihichat ; P. rubicola, stonecliat. 



Greenland in the east, and Alaska in the west, but its number in our continent is evi- 

 dently yet very small. As it is very fond of rocks and stones, it is quite at home in 

 the bleak northern regions, where it is a conspicuous feature by its light colors and its 

 peculiar habits of simultaneously jerking up the tail and dipping the breast in a spas- 

 modic sort of way, while emitting a curious call note, consisting of three loud clicks, 

 often rendered by ' chick-chack-chdcJc." 1 The genus is principally African, and southern 

 species are mostly inhabitants of arid and stony deserts. 



