Tliere they were so mnneroiis, that, any evening we bent our bird-nesting rambles to the enclosures, we were 
usually successful in finding two or three nests. These were either placed in a tuft of grass in a rough 
pasture-field or amongst the thick grass of the meadows, which in May or June was long and fit for cutting. 
On the furzy common it places its nest, like that of the Stone-chat, at the foot of a furze or stunted thorn- 
bush, sometimes amongst heath, and at others, though rarely, in the centre of a piece of thick furze a few 
inches above the ground. The nest is composed outwardly of the stalks of plants and dry grass, with a 
small portion of moss, and is lined with finer grass. Like the nests of most birds that build upon the ground, 
it is very slightly woven together, and is not easily brought away whole. The eggs, which are almost inva- 
riably six in number, are usually described as of a spotless blue ; but they are quite as frequently very finely 
dotted, and sometimes, though very rarely, distinctly spotted with rust-colour.” 
A very beautiful nest sent to me by Mr. Smither, of Churt, was composed exteriorly of lichens and moss, 
very firmly woven together, within which was a lining, fully an inch thick, of fine dried grass, which became 
gradually finer towards the interior. Two other nests from the same locality, though not so handsome as 
the above, were composed of the same materials, with the exception of the lichens. 
Macgillivray says that the Whinchat is generally so shy and vigilant “ that it is not easily shot, unless in 
tlie vicinity of its nest, from which it endeavours in various ways to decoy the intruder. If wounded, it 
hides among the bushes, and is very difficult to be traced. When the nest is approached, the Whinchats 
evince great anxiety, but at first keep at some distance, perched on the top twigs of the bushes, and at 
short intervals emit a mellow plaintive note, followed by several short ones resembling the ticking of a clock, 
or that produced by striking two pebbles together, and at the same time jerk out their tall and flap their wings. 
When the plaintive note alone is uttered, they do not move the body or wings, but for every two ticks there 
is a jerk of the tail, accompanied by a slight elevation of the wings. The notes may be represented by the 
syllables, peep, tick, tick, tick, tick. Sometimes a single tick only is emitted, frequently four or five, rarely 
six. If you go nearer the nest, they advance, redouble their cries, flit about from bush to bush, and some- 
times hover in a fluttering manner at the height of a few feet.” 
From M. Bailly’s ‘ Ornithologie de la Savoie ’ we learn that the Whinchat arrives in that country, and 
takes up its abode in the cultivated districts, about the 30th of March, that it ascends the mountains to 
the height of from 1400 to 2000 feet above the level of the sea, and that, at the season of pairing, it 
utters a lively little love-song from the top of a bush, or while rising and dropping through the air ; its 
manners, in fact, are precisely similar to those of the individuals seen in this country. 
The Plate represents a male, of the size of life, on a branch of the May {Cratcegus Oxyacanthd) : and a 
reduced figure of a female in the distance. 
