THE SINGING BIRDS. 199 



at the exterior are black ; the colours in the plumage of the female are paler and redder than those of 

 her mate. The Black-throated Stone Chat is rust-red on the upper portions of the body, breast, and 

 belly ; the throat and wings are black, the feathers of the single wing-covers edged with rust-red ; the 

 exterior tail-feathers are white, tipped with black, and those in the centre entirely black. The young 

 of both species are greyish yellow on the head, nape, and back, every feather being lightly edged with 

 grey at the tip, and streaked with white on the shaft. The under side is dirty white, with a greyish 

 shade upon the breast ; the quills and tail-feathers are pale black ; the feathers of the wing-covers are 

 bordered with yellowish white. 



Though they by no means avoid fruitful tracts or cultivated districts, these birds very decidedly 

 prefer to take up their abode in mountains or stony regions, and are for this reason particularly 

 numerous in Sweden, Southern Germany, and Switzerland ; in the latter country they are popularly 

 known as Mountain Nightingales, from the height to which they often ascend. Even the icy and 

 rugged tracts of Scandinavia and Lapland seem to suit their requirements ; and we have often seen 

 them hopping nimbly over the glaciers, in situations where no other living object was discernible. 

 Individuals inhabiting more southern latitudes display the same liking for barren ground, and 

 are usually seen in localities so sterile and arid as to appear totally incapable of affording them a 

 sufficient supply of the insects upon which they subsist. Their disposition is lively, restless, vigilant, 

 and very unsocial ; only during their winter migrations do they commingle with others of their species. 

 Even when circumstances compel a certain amount of neighbourship, each bird lives for itself, without 

 appearing to take the slightest interest in the proceedings of others in the vicinity. 



The flight of the Stone Chat is remarkable, owing to the fact that, at whatever height the perch 

 may be from which it starts, the bird invariably sinks towards the ground, close to the surface of 

 which it always flies, in a series of short, undulating lines. At the approach of the breeding season 

 this mode of flight is changed, and the bird then entertains itself and its mate by repeatedly soaring 

 into the air to a height of some twenty or thirty feet, singing as it goes, and then descending 

 precipitately, to end its joyous song upon its favourite perch. When standing upon a stone or rock, 

 it holds its body erect, shakes its tail, and, should anything unusual catch its eye, at once commences 

 bowing repeatedly. This strange habit has given rise to its Spanish name of the " Sacristan," in 

 allusion to the genuflexions practised by the monks. The voices of all the species we have described 

 are loud and peculiar, but by no means pleasing. Of their performance, however, it may be said that 

 what is wanting in quality is made up by the energy and persistency with which their song is poured 

 out, not only from daybreak to sunset, but long after night has closed in. The nest, which is for the 

 most part built in holes and fissures of rocks and stones, or occasionally in hollow trees, is carefully 

 concealed from view. Its dense roughly-made exterior is formed of fibres, grass, and stalks, lined 

 thickly and warmly with wool, hair, or feathers j the eggs, from five to seven in number, are of a 

 delicate blueish or greenish white, occasionally, but rarely, spotted with pale yellow. The female 

 hatches her brood with but little assistance from her mate, who perches near, in order to keep a strict 

 watch against the approach of danger, and warns her of its appearance by an anxious cry. But one 

 brood is produced in the season, the first eggs being laid about May ; occasionally, however, the 

 female produces two broods. The young remain with the parents till the winter migration, which 

 takes place in September. In March they again return to their native lands. 



The RUNNING WARBLERS (Dromolcea) constitute another group of this family, recognisable 

 by the predominance of black in the coloration of their plumage, and by the formation of their 

 comparatively long and much compressed beak, which is broad at its base, and very decidedly curved 

 and hooked at its extremity. The wings are long and pointed. 



