10 THE BIRDS OF DEVOX. 



he saw being those he observed in Greenland. We first made the 

 acquaintance of the large Wheatears at Brighton, where the distinctions 

 between them and the smaller race are well known to the local bird- 

 catchers. All the ^Yheatears nesting along the North Devon and North 

 Cornwall coasts are, as we have taken pains to observe, birds of the 

 smaller race. From information supplied to us by Messrs. Pratt and Son, 

 the well-known bird-stuffers of North Town Quadrant, Brighton, it would 

 appear that the small Wheatears are not found in that neighbourhood 

 during the summer, while the larger ones, which arrive in April and 

 May, are often detected nesting close to the town. This seems opposed 

 to the supposition that the large race belong to a northern form. 



Our friend the late Mr. John Gatcombe wrote to inform us that a very 

 pretty variety of this bird had been killed at Plymouth, of which he had 

 made a drawing. It had a patch of pure white on the nape of the neck 

 as large as that on the rump. 



Whinchat. Pratincola ruhetra (Linn.). 



[Purze-Chat.] 



A summer migrant, arriving about the middle or end of April and 

 departing in October, Breeds. 



It frequents pastures, heaths, and furze-brakes. Though not a 

 numerous species in South Devon, it is met with on the borders of 

 Dartmoor and near Plymouth (J. G., Zool. 187-1, p. 4253) ; about the 

 various Leys in the Kingsbridge district, and between Thurlestone llock 

 and Bantham, in which neighbourhood it was extraordinarily numerous 

 on April 24th, 1S!)1 (R. P. N. and E. A. S. E.) ; near Totnes (J. H. G., 

 Zool. 1S71, p. 2079); Teignmouth and Ashburton (T. and K.) ; Torquay ; 

 Woodbury Common and I'jxraouth ; and at Axmouth, where Mr. Henry 

 Swaysland, Jun., obtained examples on 24th April, 1SS3, just arrived. 

 Bellamy says that Whinchats undoubtedly stay with us during the winter 

 in rare cases (N. Hist. S. Devon, p. 225). One or two pairs annually 

 breed near Cadworthy Bridge, or Shaughmoor, and on Harford Moor 

 (11. A. J., 'Naturalist,' 1S51, p. 87). 



In North Devon the ^\'liinehat is a rare bird, and, like several others of 

 the Warblers, appeal's to lie somewhat shy of the West Country. In the 

 lists given of Lundy Island birds this species and the Stonechat have been 

 probably confounded. 



In a drive across North Somerset from east to west one day towards 

 the end of April we were on the look-out for the Whinchat and other 

 summer migrants, but in a distance of more than thirty miles we only 

 detected three male Whinchats, although the country we passed through 

 was very well adapted to the bird. 



The Whinchat is rai'c and local in Cornwall, but is more plentiful in 

 Dorset. 



