270 SYLVIADA. 
April; these are of a pale greyish blue, the larger end 
minutely speckled with dull reddish brown: the length 
of the egg is about eight lines and a half, and seven lines 
in breadth. The young are usually hatched by the mid- 
dle of May; and the parent birds are then clamorous 
and bold, practising various tricks to entice intruders from 
their nest. 
The Stonechat is common in the counties along our 
southern coast to the Irish Channel; it is also a constant 
resident in the south, the west, and the north of Ireland. 
It is observed constantly in Suffolk, Norfolk, Yorkshire, 
and Northumberland; Mr. Selby observed it in Suther- 
landshire; and Mr. Macgillivray includes it in his Cata- 
logue of the Birds of the Hebrides. 
M. Temminck mentions that specimens of the Stonechat 
were sent by Pallas from some part of Russia, but the 
particular locality is not named: these specimens, it is 
stated, did not differ from others received from South 
Africa. The Stonechat is common during summer in Ger- 
many, France, Provence, and Italy; it is found at Corfu, 
Sicily, Crete, and was observed by Mr. Strickland at 
Smyrna. Mr. Swainson includes the Stonechat among 
the birds of Senegal; it is found at Tangiers, and Le 
Vaillant and Dr. Smith obtained specimens at the Cape. 
In a direction east of Europe, the geographical range of 
this little bird is extensive. In India, the Stonechat has 
been found by Colonel Sykes, Major Franklin, and Mr. 
Blyth. M.Temminck includes the Stonechat in his Ca- 
talogue of the Birds of Japan. 
The adult male, in May, has the beak black; the irides 
dark brown; the head, neck, and back, nearly black ; 
wing-coverts of the tertials white, but partly hid by the 
other coverts, which are blackish brown, edged with lighter 
