CAGE ANB SINGING BIRDS. 
47 
THE STONECHAT. 
This bird is one of our earliest summer visitants, arriving 
generally about the middle of March ; its places of resort 
are much the same as those chosen by the whinchat^ and it 
especially seems to delight in spots where there are stones 
scattered, or in heaps, ruinous walls, and the like; amid 
these it sleeps by night, and flits about by day, making* a 
harsh clicking sound — -hence its name, stonechat, or chattero 
Its natural song is short, lively, and pleasantly modulated^ 
and is often uttered during its flights from one heap of 
stones or turf to another, or while hovering on the wing" 
over its nest, which is composed of grass, roots, and moss, 
with a lining of hair, wool, or feathers, and generally placed 
in a hollow in the ground under a wall or heap of stones, or 
beneath the furze or bramble bushes : the eggs, five or six 
in number, are of a light greenish-blue colour, very much 
like those of the last species. The markings of this bird 
are decidedly handsome, in some individuals especially so^ 
for they differ greatly, no two ever being seen exactly 
alike. In the male bird, the head and throat are a 
fine glossy black, as is also the upper part of the back, 
where the feathers are edged with yellowish brown, as are 
those of the wings, giving the effect of bronzing; in the 
upper part of each wing-covert is a patch of pure white, 
and also on each side of the neck; the breast is orange, 
running off into j^ellowish white towards the vent; the 
rump is white, with an edging of orange, and the tail 
feathers like those of the wings. 
The bird is about as large as the whinchat ; but it has 
a look of a more bold and decided character. Some au- 
thorities doubt whether it is a migratory bird with us; 
certain it is, that individuals of this species remain through 
the winter, but that the greater number leave for a warmer 
climate seems pretty certain. Bechstein says, that the 
voung, if taken, may be reared on ants' eggs, 'but that the 
old birds seldom survive their capture long : they must be 
fed and treated in every respect like the nightingale. In 
this Sweet agrees with the German naturalist, recom.mend- 
ing bruised hemp-seed and bread, mixed up into a moist 
