ORIGINAL SKETCHES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 203 



I have noticed in clutches of eggs of this species, that when 

 all the eggs have rust-coloured specks on the surface, one of the 

 number generally has such specks much more strongly pronounced 

 than the rest. Again, that when the clutch is of a pale greenish 

 unspotted blue, uniform in colour, one egg occasionally exhibits a 

 few faint rust-coloured specks. Such an egg I regard as answering 

 to the variety that is so frequently found in the nests of other 

 species, and in none is the difference so emphasized, in my 

 opinion, as in the case of the Sparrow-Hawk and the Tree- 

 Sparrow. Eight is freely spoken of as the extreme number of 

 eggs in a clutch, but my belief is that six is much more frequent; 

 very rarely seven. I have never found so many as eight myself, 

 nor have I known anyone who has actually found this number ; 

 I have never met with a dealer who had a clutch of eight for sale, 

 and therefore it would be interesting to me to learn what the 

 authority is, and whence it emanated, for such a statement. 



It is, of course, matter of history what immense numbers of 

 Wheatears used to be taken in traps on the downs in bygone 

 years when assembling previous to retiring from this country. In 

 those days they were esteemed very delicious articles of food, and 

 though the taste may not have died out, yet, owing to the large 

 tracts of waste land which have been reclaimed since that era, 

 the haunts of the Wheatear have been much encroached upon 

 and virtually broken up. It is, too, common knowledge that 

 the species is an adept at the art of mimicry; but it may not 

 be so generally known that on fine warm nights in May it will 

 sing till long after dark. 



The Whinchat (Pratincola rubetra). 



I have noticed that this species is to be met with more 

 frequently some years than in others, and though doubtless 

 numbers resort to furze-clad commons for breeding purposes in 

 general with their near relatives the Stonechats, I do not agree 

 that the nest is of necessity to be sought in such wild districts. 

 On the contrary, I look upon the Whinchat, which is a spring 

 migrant and arrives in this country about the middle of April, 

 as a sociable bird, and partial to cultivated fields and roadside 

 hedges, whereabouts it finds an abundance of insectivorous food 

 and suitable spots for rearing its young. 



