Wheatear. 151 



derives its name of ' Whinchat' and ' Furzcchat' from the whin 

 or furze which it loves to frequent ; and for the same reason is 

 known in Sweden as the Busk sqvatta. In Sussex it is known 

 as the ' Barley-ear,' probably from the date of its arrival coin- 

 ciding with barley earing, or ploughing for barley.* The 

 scientific name Rubetra would either refer to the ' ruddy' colour 

 of its plumage, or more probably to the bramble-thickets it 

 frequents, on the topmost twigs of which it will perch, and then 

 pass on with undulating flight to the highest spray of another 

 bush. In France it is Grand Traquet and Traquet Tarier ; in 

 Germany, BraunJcehliger Steinschmatzer, 'Brown- throated Stone- 

 kisser ;' in Portugal, its correct name is like that of the species 

 last described, Chasco ; but its provincial name, by which it is 

 more popularly known, is Tange-asno, literally ' Gee-up, donkey!' 

 because its note is supposed to resemble that used by the donkey- 

 boys to urge on their beasts.f With us it is migratory, arriving 

 in April, and departing for more southern latitudes in the 

 autumn. 



45. WHEATEAR (Saxicola cenanthe). 



This is essentially one of our down birds, and few inhabitants 

 of Wiltshire can be ignorant of its handsome active figure. It 

 loves the bare open down, especially a stony down, where it flits 

 from stone to stone in search of its insect food : it is the largest 

 of the genus, and very prettily marked ; the upper part of the 

 head and back pearl-gray, the wings and cheeks black, the under 

 parts pale buff, while the upper part of the tail is pure white, 

 and from the singular manner in which by a lateral expansion of 

 the feathers it spreads its tail like a fan, it may at once be 

 recognised : it is migratory, but one of the first to arrive, and the 

 last to leave us. For several years past I have noticed its first 

 appearance here on or within two days of the 26th March. And 

 Mr. CordeauxJ calls it the ' Sea-blue bird of March,' though he 



c Gen. xlv. 6 ; Exod. xxxiv. 21 ; Deut. xxi. 4 ; 1 Sam. viii. 12. 

 t Ibis for 1887, p. 87, Mr. Tait on the Birds of Portugal. 

 J ' Birds of the Humber,' p. 30. 



