428 THE WHIKCHA7, 



commons, and very frequently in parks and rabbit-warrens ; in 

 some counties they are so plentiful, that some hundred dozens are 

 caught annually by the shepherds, who sell them for the sake of 

 their flesh, which is very delicious, particularly in autumn, when 

 they become very fat: I believe it is not generally known that 

 S. Hortensis, or the Greater Pettichaps, also becomes as fat, 

 and its flesh is quite as delicious, or perhaps more so, as it feeds 

 almost entirely on fruit. 



" I have seldom heard the Wheatear sing when wild, and 

 when I have, its song was very soft, and scarcely to be heard, 

 except when very near it ; though I must allow I have never been 

 much in the places that they frequent in summer, so that they 

 may sing more than I am aware of; but in confinement they are 

 almost continually in song, and sing by night as well as day ; 

 they have a very pleasant, variable, and agreeable song, different 

 from all other birds, and sometimes it is very loud, and they 

 continue it a great length of time, not continually breaking off 

 like a Hobin Redbreast, and some other birds ; but their winter 

 song is best, and most varied. A pair that I possess at present 

 were caught in September last, and they began to sing in a few 

 days, and have continued in song ever since, and now, while writ- 

 ing this, the 22d day of December, they are in full song. When 

 in a large cage or aviary where there is plenty of room, it is very 

 amusing to see them at play, flying up and down, and spreading 

 open their large wings in a curious manner, dancing and singing 

 at the same time. 



" In confinement these birds require the same sort of food as 

 the Stonechafc, Whinchat, and Nightingale, feeding freely on the 

 bruised hemp seed and bread, with some fresh, raw, lean meat, 

 cut up in small pieces and mixed with it ; they are also very fond 

 of the yolk of an egg boiled hard, which should be given sepa- 

 rately, also almost all sorts of insects, except the common earth 

 worm ; all the sorts that the Nightingale or Whinchat will eat, 

 they are also very fond of, and the more they have given them 

 the better, and the more they will sing : they are particularly 

 fond of cockroaches and crickets, so that any person acquainted 

 with a baker, may always procure plenty from his shop." 



167. THE 



Sylvia or Motacilla Rubetra, LIN. Le Grand Traquet, ou Tarter, BUF. 

 Der Braunkehlize Steinschmdtzer, BECH. 



Description. This pretty Cage-bird is found everywhere in 

 the open country where there are bushes, and especially on 

 Bteep declivities. It is four inches and ten lines in length, the 



" 



