9 6 



This is the cock Whinchat the hen is duller, with a yellow or buff eye 

 streak. The note is like the Stonechat's, " Tza-tza " ; but if you get too near 

 the nest there is an unmistakable call, " Utick-tick-tick utick-tick-tick," 

 accompanied by fluttering wing and jerking tail. 



The bird is a summer visitor, arriving later than the Wheatear. It places 

 its nest of grasses and moss, lined with finer materials and hair, on or near the 

 ground, in a bank or the bottom of a bush. The eggs are a greenish blue with 

 pale spots of " faded " russet-brown not so bright or large as the Wheatear's. 



Whitethroat often called " NETTLE-CREEPER " and " PEGGY WHITE- 

 THROAT " a summer migrant, widely distributed. Head ashy grey, back 

 brownish grey, wing coverts edged with chestnut, wings dark brown, tail the 

 same, edged with white. Throat pure white, breast tinged with pink, legs 

 pale brown. Female browner above, and breast whiter. The bird is distin- 

 guished by the pure white throat, the blue-grey head, and chestnut on wings. 

 When seen close, the pale brown or flesh-coloured legs distinguish it from 

 the Lesser Whitethroat, which has bluish grey legs. 



Whitethroat. 



It has a very lively song, uttered in a characteristic way, the bird fluttering 

 up a little way into the air and singing as it descends. There is also an un- 

 mistakable scolding note, " Cha-ah," repeated in a torrent of expostulation 

 when the nest is approached too closely. This is placed usually quite close to 

 the ground in herbage and undergrowth, often in a clump of nettles (hence 

 the local name) ; it is a fragile structure, but rather deep, of bents lined with 

 fine roots and hair. The eggs four or five (sometimes more) are greenish 

 white, spotted and speckled with grey and greenish brown. 



Its food is insects ; in the autumn, fruits such as blackberries, elderberries, 

 etc. 



Whitethroat, Lesser. This is only half an inch smaller than the preceding, 

 from which it is distinguished by its general lighter appearance, the prevailing 

 colours being grey and white. It is more shy and retiring ; there is no bright 

 chestnut on the wings, and the legs are lead coloured, not flesh coloured. 

 It is rare in Devon, absent from Cornwall, rare in Western Wales and the 



