W H I 
W H I 
Linmsus. This bird, called alfo the White-tail, 
and the Fallow-finch, is fomewhat larger than the 
common fparrow. The head and back are of a 
greyi/li colour, with fome admixture of rednefs ; 
and the rump is white, whence the bird has re- 
ceived the appellation of the white- tail: but this 
is not always the cafe ; for the rump is fometimes 
of the fame colour with the reft of the back. Over 
each eye there is a white line ; and beneath it a 
broad black ftroke, paffing acrofs each eye to the 
hind part of the head. The under fide of the 
body is v/hite, tinged with yellow ; on the neck it 
inclines to red ; and the quill-feathers are black, 
edged with reddifh brown. The colours of the 
female are more dull : fbe wants the black ftroke 
acrofs the eye ; and the bar of white on her tail 
is narrov/er. 
Thcfe birds feed on beetles, and other infeds ; 
and build in the deferted burrows of rabbits. 
They are very plentiful in Suffex, and fome 
other Englifli counties, after harveft-time, when 
they are extremely fat, and much efteemed at 
table. They feem to thrive beft in rainy feafons, 
becaufe they then find a greater plenty of food than 
during dry ones. 
At Eafibourne, in Suffex, they particularly 
abound, on account of.a fmali fly wliich frequents 
the adjacent hills, for the f;\ke of the wild thyme 
with which they are covered; and are taken in 
great numbers by means of hcrfe-hair fnares placed 
under long turfs, into which they areeafily driven, 
to avoid the human fpecies. The number an- 
nually caught there has frequently amounted to 
upwards of eighteen hundred dozen; and yet the 
flocks that appear the fucceeding year do not 
feem to be diminifhed. They lay from fix to 
eight eggs, of a light blue colour. 
Wheat-Ears begin to vifit us about the middle 
of March, and continue migrating into this coun- 
try till the beginning of May. The females ar- 
rive about a fortnight before the males. They , 
difappear in September, at leaft from the northern 
parts of the kingdom; but many of them continue 
in Hampfliite the whole winter. 
WHEEL ANIMAL. A genus of animal- 
cules, furnifhed with an apparatus of arms for 
feizing. their prey. This apparatus has been fup- 
pofed, by micro fcopical writers, to be a fort of 
v/heels : however. Dr. Hill defcribes the animal, 
when at refl, as having a plain fmopth body ; be- 
ing of a conic figure, obtufe at the pofterior ex- 
tremity, and' open at the anterior; of a dufky olive 
colour, and femitranfparent. ■} " ' 
When in motion, it protrudes from the • opeti 
extremity a part of it's naked body, to the whole 
of which this exterior conic fubftance feems to be 
but a cafe or ilieath. From the extremity of this 
exerted part of the body it thrufts out two pro- 
tuberances, which give it the appearance of a dou- 
ble head ; and in each of thefeis difcovered an ap- 
paratus in continual motion, appearing to be a 
rotatory, though really a vibratory one very ra- 
pidly re|3eated. Each bf thefe prstruded bodies 
has fix arms inferted into it, which continually 
lliUts and opens over each other. Every arm is 
furnifhed with a double feries of fibres at it's edgCj 
which being expanded, occafion it's fpreading to 
a confiderabie breadth. ,' . _ ' 
Several fpecies of this animklcule have been 
rnentioned by Baker and others. 
WHELK; Buccina. See Shells. 
' WHIFF; the Paffcr Cornubienfig Afper of' 
Jago. This fifh bears fome refcmblance to the- 
holibut. It is about eighteen inches long; and 
it's greateft breadth feven^ exclufive of the fins. 
The mouth is extremely large; the teeth are mi- 
nute; the under jaw hooks over the upper; and 
the eyes are large. The fcales are broad and 
rough. The lateral line is uncommonly incur- 
vated at it's rife; but, after making a fharp angle, 
it proceeds ftraight to the tail, and is tuberculated. 
The tail is rounded. The upper part of the body 
is of a cinereous brown colour, clouded in fome 
parts, and ol)fcurely fpotied; and the under fide is 
white, tinged with red. 
WHIMBREL; the Scolopax PhiEopus of 
Linnaeus. This bird is much lefs frequent on our 
fhores than the curlew, to which it is nearly al- 
lied; but it's haunts, food, and general appear- 
ance,' are much the fame. 
Thefe birds are obferved tO'tifit the neighbour- 
hood of Spalding, in L-incolnfliire, where they re- 
ceive thfe appellation of Curlew Knats, in vafl 
flocks, about April, continuing only till May; 
nor are they feen at any other feafon of the year. 
Indeed, they feem to be then on their pafTage to 
the places where they breed, which Pennant fu- 
fpefts to be the Highlands of Scotland. 
The fpecific difference between this bird and 
the curlew is, that the former never exceeds 
twelve ounces in weight. The bill is two inches 
and three quarters long, dufky above, and red 
below; the feathers on the head and neck are 
brown tinged with red, marked in the middle 
with an oblong black fpot; the cheeks are of a 
paler colour; the upper part of the back, the co- 
verts of the wings, the fcapulars, and the extreme 
quill-feathers, are of the fame colour v<'ith the 
neck ; but the black fpots, fpread out tranfverfely 
on each web. The quill-feathers are dufky, their 
»fhafts white, and their exterior webs marked with 
long femucircular white fpots. The breaft, belly, 
and lower part of the back, are white; the coverts 
of the tail, and the tail itfelf, are of a very pale 
whitifh brown colour, crofTed with black barsj 
and the legs and feet are of a dull green, and 
formed like thofe of the curlew. 
Pennant defcribes a variety of this bird, which 
he received from Invercauld. It was fhot on the 
Grampian hills ; meafured fixteen inches in length 5 
and differed confiderably in it's colours from the 
common Whimbrel. 
WH INCH AT ; the Motacilla Rubetra. This 
bird is about the fize of the common water-wag- 
tail. The head, neck, and back, are of a reddifli 
brown colour, with regular rows of black fpots. 
Over each eye there is a narrow white ftroke, and 
beneath that a broad bed of black, extending from 
the bill to the hind part of the head. The breafl 
is of a reddifh yellow hue; the belly is paler; the 
quill-feathers are brown, edged with yellowifh 
brown; the upper part of the wings is marked 
with two white fpots ; the lower part of the tail is 
white, the two middle feathers excepted, which 
arfe wholly black; and the upper part of the reft 
is of the fame colour. The colours, however, i a 
this bird, are very uncertain, and it frequently 
bears a ftrong refemblance to the ftone-chatterj 
but an accurate obfcrver may always diftinguifh it 
from that bird by the white fpots on it's wingsi, 
by the whitenefsof the under part of it's tail, iand 
by the white lines on it's head. ■ i ; 
The colours of the female ai^e much lefs pleaf- 
ing than thofe of the male : in lieu of the white 
, , . and 
