A^^'D NEIGHBOURHOOD. Ill 



In many — I might, I think, say in most — parts of 

 England, Scotland, and Ireland the Stonechat is 

 common and well known, as it appears especially to 

 affect the neighbonrhood of roads and footpaths 

 wliich run through open heathy and furzy grounds, 

 avoiding high trees, and flitting from bush to bush 

 or stone to stone with a jerky flight and impatient 

 clicking note. The male bird has a short but pleasant 

 song, often uttered on the wing, and altogether the 

 Stonechat is a species which is not likely to escape 

 notice, from its restless habits, and the devices of the 

 parent birds to attract the attention of passers-by 

 from their young or eggs, which, by the way, are 

 sufficiently difficult to find without any misguidance, 

 the nest being generally well concealed at the 

 foot of an almost impenetrable furze or scrubby 

 thorn bush, and often in the midst of a dense 

 furze-brake. With the single exception of the 

 Grasshopper Warbler, I do not remember any 

 ground-breeding bird which has given me more 

 trouble in finding its nest than the Stonechat, and 

 though I have spent many hours in searching for 

 them, and in watching the old birds, I have only 

 succeeded in finding three nests, all in such situa- 

 tions as those above described, built of moss and 

 rough grass, lined with fine grass and hairs, and 

 containing five pale-blue eggs, thickly spotted with 

 rusty red. 



