The Zoologist— December, 1867. 1007 



Lowlands it is exempt from having its nest " harried" {i.e. robbed) by 

 country boys on account of the awful curse which its notes are sup- 

 posed to contain : 



" Stane-cback, 

 De'il tak' 



They wha harry my nest, 

 Will never rest, 

 Will meet the pest, 

 De'il brak' their lang back 

 Wha my eggs wad tak', tak' ! " 



(Chambers,* Popular Rhymes of Scotland.') 



The usual Scotch name for both the stonechat and whinchat is "stane* 

 chacker." 



Wheatear. — Mudie informs us that the wheatear is a doomed bird 

 in many parts of Northern England, because the peasants believe that 

 to hear its note is a token of approaching death. He suggests that its 

 habit of frequenting old church-yards, ruins and sepulchral "cairns" 

 may be the origin of this superstition. In the Hebrides this bird 

 seems to share the Gaelic name of the last species. Mr. Gray writes 

 me concerning the wheatear or "clacharan :" " Being a migratory bird, 

 this species is also the subject of anxious consideration on its arrival. 

 When seen for the first time perched on a rock or stone it portends a 

 bad year to the person who sees it ; but when found perched on a 

 grassy mound it is looked upon as a happy omen. Two friends for 

 example, who have not seen each other for some time happen to meet 

 and the one asks the other eagerly, ' Have you seen the clacharen 

 yet ?' ' Oh, yes !' is the reply, ' I have seen it on a sod— all right !' 

 But it sometimes happens that an ominous shake of the head tells its 

 own story." 



Robin. — Both in England and Scotland the robin and the wren are 

 represented by rural tradition as husband and wife ; probably this is 

 because the female redbreast shares the bright colours of the male, 

 while both sexes of the wren are clothed in quiet and quaker-like 

 garb : both are sacred from bird-nesters. In Scotland a popular rhyme 

 informs us that 



" The robin and the wren 

 Are God's cock and hen ; " 



Another version of which is said to be common in Warwickshire, 

 viz. : — 



