THK WIIHATEAK. 
71 
worsted, the second of a thick mass of cow’s liair, and tlie third 
of a great quantity of small feathers. 
The nesting liahits of the AVheatear are so full of varied 
interest as to afford unceasing pleasure to the ol)server. One 
of the most curious departures from ordinary rule came under 
my notice early in June 1863. At tlie edge of a deep burn upon 
the hill-side, a long strip of turf had given way, and, resting 
against the steep bank, had thus formed a small kind of tunnel, 
about a yard in length. So tempting a situation for a nest had 
attracted the notice of two pairs of Wheatears, which, instead of 
settling the question of ownership sparrow-fashion, peaceably 
built their nests side by side within six inches of each other. 
Each nest contained six eggs, all of which were hatched within 
the same week, and in due time both broods were fledged. 
Although one brood left the nest somewhat earlier than the 
other, it remained in the immediate neighbourhood long after- 
wards, accompanied by the parents, which fed them industriously 
for at least twenty hours out of the twenty-four. The younger 
brood soon rejoined their former neighbours, and at about 
eleven o’clock every night the whole party, numbering sixteen, 
retired to crevices beneath the large stones ; — at least I sup- 
pose so, for although I was never able to discover the young 
birds in their retreat, the slightest noise was sufflcient to call 
forth the old ones. But after this had occurred three or four 
times, they were never to be taken by surprise, and were 
always to be seen flitting restlessly about as soon as I ap- 
proached sufficiently near to distinguish them. Botli ends of 
the tunnel were used for the purposes of entrance and exit, but 
1 had no means of ascertaining whether each pair of birds kept 
to its own nest. 
On another occasion in the same year, 1 found a Wheatear’s 
nest with six young ones at the bottom of a heap of large stones, 
and so far in that I had to throw out the stones until a hole 
was made some two feet deep and a yard wide. It then proved 
that, as in many other cases I had seen, the old birds had 
preferred to enter at a distance of several feet from the nest. 
