170 On the Ornithology of Wilts \_&ilmada>.~\ 



age and rank respect this one at least of our winter songsters, so 

 harmless, so pretty, and so confiding. 



"Redstart/' (Phcenicura rubicilla.) Towards the end of April 

 this handsome and interesting bird arrives in great numbers, and 

 may be continually seen darting after insects on the wing, and 

 capturing them with unerring precision ; or running after its 

 prey on the* grass with equal certainty of success. In plumage it 

 is the brightest and gayest of all the warblers ; the female in more 

 sombre hue than her mate, is clad in a dress of pale reddish brown ; 

 but the male, with his jet black head and throat, bright chesnut 

 breast and tail, white forehead, and grey back, presents a handsome 

 appearance from the contrast and combination of colours ; but the 

 distinctive peculiarity of these birds consists in their spreading out 

 the feathers of the orange-red tail, and jerking it from side to side, 

 an action belonging to the redstarts alone, and 03' which they may- 

 be distinguished from all other birds : they delight in buildings, 

 especially old walls, in the crevices of which they make their nests ; 

 they are good songsters, and continue their song from morning 

 till night. 



"Stonechat." (Saxicola rubicola.) This and the two following 

 species comprise the genus " Chat," and all of them are tolerably 

 numerous in this county : they are pretty, little, lively, restless, 

 noisy birds, and their absence would cause a sad blank on our 

 Downs, which they chiefly frequent : their habit is to flirt the tail 

 up and down continually, but not after the manner of the redstart. 

 The stonechat is the only one which remains with us through the 

 winter, and may generally be met with in stony places, or open 

 pastures covered with small shrubs : it is of bright plumage, the 

 head, neck, back, and throat nearly black ; wing and tail coverts 

 and sides of the neck white ; and rich chesnut breast : it utters a 

 kind of clicking note, and is for ever on the move from one stone to 

 another, or from the summit of one bush to the next. Mr. Marsh 

 says it is called the "Furze Robin" in his neighbourhood. 



"Whinchat." (Saxicola rubetra.) The haunts, habits, and 

 general character of this warbler are very like those of the last 

 described : it is to be met with in the same localities, and though 



