THE WHEAT- EAR. 
109 
Martin,* in old walls and in quarries, and we 
have found the nest in the rents or splits of dry 
peat mosses. The nest is built according to the 
form of the hole, and is composed of fine grasses, 
with a little lining of wool or hair. The eggs 
are of a pale verditer green. The food, during 
its residence in Britain, is composed of insects. 
On the coast the small mollusca of the warrens 
are fed upon. 
The colours of the adult birds blend and har- 
monize beautifully together, and are at the same 
time very contrasted. The forehead, and a stripe 
above the eyes, are white ; the space between the 
bill and the eyes, the auriculars, the wings, one- 
third of the outer tail feathers, and the whole of 
the pair in the centre, are deep black ; the secon- 
daries, quills, and coverts, being edged with a 
pale brown, or brownish-white. These decided 
markings relieve the pale and delicate bluish- 
gray of the head and back, which is still farther 
broken by the pure white of the base of the tail and 
its coverts, which form a beautiful band, appear- 
ing very conspicuous during flight, and presenting 
a characteristic mark in the distribution of the 
colouring of the whole genus. The under parts are 
pale chestnut-brown, becoming paler towards the 
vent. In the female the colours are less clear, 
and are marked with more brown. In the young 
birds the tips of the feathers are brown, and the 
dark markings are indistinct, the pale colours of 
the edges of the feathers of the wings broader, 
* Hewitson. 
