32 RECREATIONS OF A NATURALIST 



are to be seen to my knowledge all the winter 

 through in many parts of the south of England. 

 The most intelligent shepherds tell me that some 

 few of these birds appear on the downs in March, 

 and then withdraw to breed, probably in warrens 

 and stone quarries. Now and then a nest is 

 ploughed up in a fallow on the downs under a 

 furrow, but it is thought a rarity. At the time of 

 wheat harvest they begin to be taken in great 

 numbers, are sent for sale in vast quantities to 

 Brighthelmstone and Tunbridge, and appear at the 

 tables of all the gentry that entertain with any 

 degree of elegance. About Michaelmas they retire, 

 and are seen no more till March. Though these 

 birds are when in season in great plenty on the 

 South Downs round Lewes, yet at Eastbourne, 

 which is the eastern extremity of those downs, they 

 abound much more. One thing is very remarkable 

 — that though in the height of the season so many 

 hundreds of dozens are taken, yet they never are 

 seen to flock, and it is a rare thing to see more 

 than three or four at a time, so that there must be 

 a perpetual flitting and constant progressive suc- 

 cession." 



He concludes with an observation, which at 

 the present day seems to require some correction, 

 namely : — 



"It does not appear that any Wheatears are taken 

 to the westward of Houghton Bridge, which stands 

 on the river Arun." 



This is a mistake. We have frequently seen 

 Wheatears in spring on the downs above Chichester, 



