70 A. CATALOGUE OF THE BIKDS 



75. SlOiS'ECHAT. P. K.UBICOLA, {LimKBUH). 



Saxicola Ruiicola, Eewick, Hist. Brit. Birds, Ed. 1847, I., 177. 

 „ „ Yarrell, Hist. Brit. Birds, Ed. 2, I., 268. 



A resident. This is much less abuudant than the last species, 

 but is usually seen where there is a large tract of " "whin" (furze), 

 perched upon the highest twig, uttering its well-known lively 

 clinking note. Its nest is generally placed in the whin : I have 

 met with it also in heather and juniper. 



The first or nest plumage is brown above, with each of the 

 head feathers streaked with pale, obscure yellow, and those of 

 the back terminated by a large spot of the same colour; the 

 under parts are paler and of a colder tint than the back. 



The Stonechat remains in the district the whole year. In 

 winter it is pretty uniformly of a rich brown, varied with dark, 

 longitudinal spots, the white in the wing remaining quite con- 

 spicuous. Before the breeding season, which is early, the male 

 is much changed in appearance ; the head is now black, and the 

 rest of the plumage is more brilliant and clear than it was, 

 owing to the loss of the brown that had previously fi'inged the 

 margins of the feathers. 



67. PRUNELLA, VielUot. 



76. Hedge Spakrow. P. modtjlaeis, {Linnceus). 



Accentor modularis, Bewick, Hist. Brit. Birds, Ed. 1847,1., 179. 



„ ,, Yarrell, Hist. Brit. Birds, Ed. 2, I., 243. 



One of our commonest resident species, breeding in almost 

 every hedge, and almost rivalling the Robin in its familiarity, 

 but it is more modest and much less pugnacious. It breeds 

 sometimes close into towns. The pretty moss-built nest, with 

 its bemitiful blue eggs, is the delight of almost every schoolboy, 

 and has been the starting point of the natural history studies of 

 many naturalists^. 



