4 CLASS AVES. 



• 

 hole in the earth, under stones, at the foot of bushes, and 

 sometimes under roots ; they rarely perch on the summit of 

 trees, some remain always on the ground, and others on low 

 bushes, &c. 



Motacilla jEnanthe^ the Wheat-ear Warbler of Latham, is 

 a migratory species ; they pass only the fine season in France. 

 Those found in our northern climates arrive towards the end 

 of March, and spread themselves through the fields ; they 

 are to be seen in lands newly ploughed, always perched upon 

 clods of earth, in French, moftes, whence they are named 

 motteux. The white colour of the under part of their bodies 

 is discovered when they fly, and causes them to be easily 

 distinguished in the air from all other birds. They seek in 

 the furrows of cultivated lands for insects and small worms, 

 which constitute their principal nourishment ; such are the 

 places which they inhabit during the first days of their 

 arrival, and after the hatching. But in spring, they seek 

 untilled or fallow lands, preferring the borders of hills, the 

 rocky slopes of the mountains, and dry places in general ; 

 they jump from stone to stone, and avoid the hedges, bushes, 

 and trees, where they are rarely seen to perch except when 

 greatly disturbed ; their usual flight is short and rapid, but 

 more elevated during their migrations ; they pursue insects 

 on the ground. 



The cry of these wheat-ears when disturbed, resembles the 

 syllables,yar,yar, pronounced rapidly. The male has also 

 another cry which may be thus expressed, titreu, titreu, 

 which appears to be one of alarm, and is never heard except 

 at hatcliing time. Clumps of turf, heaps of stones in untilled 

 grounds, little old dry walls, are the places in which these 

 birds generally conceal their nests. Moss and fine plants 

 compose the exterior ; feathers and wool line them within. 

 These nests, constructed with great care, are moreover 

 remarkable for a kind of shed placed above them, and 

 cemented against the stone or clump under which they are 



