OF BIRDS. 
21 1 
frequents; the eggs are considerably larger than those of 
the yellow-hammer, and of a transparent white colour. 
Wheat Ear. (PL 34.) This bird weighs upwards of 
an ounce, and has a slender black bill, about half an inch 
long: the tongue is cloven or slit, and the inside of the 
mouth black: the eyes are of an hazel colour, above 
which there is a pale line passes towards the hinder part 
of the head: and below them a large black one, which 
extends itself from the corners of the mouth to the ears. 
The head and back appear of a cinerious colour, with a 
mixture of red. The rump is generally white, from 
whence, by some it has the name of white tail: the belly 
is white, faintly dashed with red: the breast and throat 
more deep: the coverts and quills are black, with their 
extreme edges white, tinctured with a dusky red: the tail 
is something more than two inches long, and all white. 
The wheat-ear visits England annually in the middle 
of March, and leaves it in September. The females come 
first, about a fortnight before the males; and continue 
to come till the middle of May. In some parts of 
England they are found in vast plenty, and are much es- 
teemed. About Eastbourne, in Sussex, they are taken 
in snares made of horse-hair, placed beneath a long turf. 
Being very timid birds, the motion even of a cloud, or 
the appearance of a hawk, will immediately drive them 
into the traps. In England these traps are first set every year 
on St. James’s day, (July 25;) soon after which they are 
caught in astonishing numbers considering that they are not 
gregai ious, and that more than two or three are scarcely 
ever seen flying together. The number annually en- 
snared in the district of Eastbourne alone, is said to 
amount to nearly two thousand dozen. The birds caught 
are chiefly young ones, and they are invariably found in 
the greatest number when an easterly wind prevails. 
It is supposed, that the vast quantity of these birds 
which are found on the downs about Eastbourne, are oc- 
casioned by a species of fly, their favourite food, that 
feeds on .he wild thyme, and abounds in the adjacent 
hills. A few of these birds breed in the old rabbit bur- 
rows there. The nest is large, and made *>f dry grass., 
