434 THE ALPINE WARBLEB. 



with them. I have at present a young Winchat, that was reared 

 by hand from the nest last summer, and now, in the middle of 

 December, it sings all day long, and a great part of the night, 

 singing the notes of the Whitethroat, J&edstart, and the female 

 Willow Wren, and almost every other note that it hears. It has 

 also learnt the song of the Missel Thrush, which it hears in the 

 garden near by ; and the Nightingale's jug, jug, jug, and re- 

 peated it in five minutes after hearing the Nightingale sing, and 

 it now sings it frequently, so that it is impossible to know which 

 of the two are singing, without seeing them. The same treat- 

 ment is required for breeding those birds from the nest, as I have 

 have already mentioned in treating of some of the other species ; 

 and afterwards, to keep them in good health, give them as many 

 insects as possible, sucn as the common maggots, small beetles, 

 cockroaches, crickets, grasshoppers, and almost all sorts of small 

 insects." 



YAREELL observes, that " the Stone-chat is common in the 

 counties along our southern coast, to the Irish Channel ; it is 

 also a constant resident hi the south, the west, and the north of 

 Ireland. It is observed constantly in Suffolk, Norfolk, York- 

 shire, and Northumberland." Mr. SELBY observed it hi Suther- 

 landshire ; and MACGILLIVRAY includes it in his Catalogue of the 

 Birds of the Hebrides, and calls it " the Blackheaded Bush Chat ; 

 it is also sometimes termed,'* he says, " the Stone Smith, Stone 

 Chatter, and Blackytop." 



TAMEABLE WHEN OLD. 

 169. TKE ALPINE WABBLEB. 



Accentor Alpinus, BECH. Motacilla Alpina, LIN. Fauvette dcs Alpes, 

 BUF. Der Alpensanger, BECH. 



Description. This bird, which is about the size of a Sky- 

 lark, has sometimes been classed with the Larks, at others 

 with the Starlings, and at others, again, with the Motacitta. 

 It is about six inches and a half in length, of which the tail 

 measures almost three inches. The beak is six lines long, 

 somewhat compressed at the sides, and having the upper man- 

 dible dark brown, the lower orange yellow. The iris is yellow ; 

 the shanks light brown, and one inch in height. The head, 

 neck, and back, are very light or whitish grey ; the head and 

 neck being spotted with pale brown ; the back with dark 



