THE STONECHAT, or CHICKSTONE. 



Saxicola rubicola, Lath. 



This bird is about five inches and a half in 

 length. The throat, head, and beak are black ; 

 from which circumstance it is sometimes known by 

 the name of Black-top. The breast is orange 

 brown, and the wings dark brown, with light edges 

 to the feathers. The sides of the neck, wing- 

 covers at the shoulders, and the under part, are 

 white ; but on the belly the white has a tinge of 

 yellow. The female has less white, has the brown 

 on the upper part lighter, the head and throat 

 dark brown mottled with white and yellow, and 

 the breast with more of a yellowish tinge. 



Mr. Sweet says that they are very variable in 

 their colours — scarcely any two are to be seen ex- 

 actly alike ; some of them being nearly all white, 

 others having a large white patch on the wings and 

 by the side of the neck, while others have it very 

 slightly : the brightness of their colours also varies 

 very considerably on different birds, some of them 

 being particularly handsome. 



The Stonechat frequents commons and furzy 

 places, where it sits on the uppermost sprays, and 

 darts at every fly that passes, frequently returning 

 to the same place again. 



