Some Interesting 
Soft Bills. 
(118) THE BIRD WORLD. 
cabbages for caterpillars and small 
insects. 
These little birds seem often to roost 
among the tangled undergrowth of gorse 
bushes. Just as dusk is falling they are 
sometimes very busy catching some 
favourite food insect in the manner of a 
Flycatcher, darting from a favourite 
perch to catch its prey, and returning to 
the perch to eat it and await another. 
Its food consists of various insects, 
small worms, beetles, small flies, cater¬ 
pillars, spiders, etc., and wireworm 
found on fallows in the spring. 
The Whinchat s Song. 
The Whinchat has a pretty little song 
—cheerful and sweet, and low in tone. 
It frequently sings while it is hovering 
in the air. When its nest is threatened 
by any danger it has also an anxious 
note—a sound like “peep.” It builds 
one nest in the season, and this is placed 
among the heather, in the middle of a 
furze bush, or among the grass of the 
middle of a field or near the hedge. 
The nest is generally made in a little 
cavity in the ground, the outside is made 
of dry grass, moss, and a few odd 
straws, and the inside of rootlets and 
horsehair. There are generally from 
four to six eggs. 
Difficulty in Keeping. 
The Whinchat is a difficult bird to 
keep in a cage, but it is an attractive 
bird, and worth the trouble it gives. 
If young birds are hand-reared they may 
be fed on the usual mixture of hard- 
boiled yolk of egg and crushed sweet 
biscuits, with ant eggs (so called), and 
mealworms, killed and cut into small 
pieces. Mealworms are most useful in 
meating off wild-caught birds, and so 
are house black beetles, of which Whin- 
chats are very fond. Some of the in¬ 
sects may be killed and mixed with the 
artificial food; in picking these out the 
bird gets used to the taste of the insec¬ 
tivorous food, and when he is quite 
accustomed to eating this he can do with 
fewer insects. But if the mealworms 
are withheld too soon the bird will very 
likely “go light” after all. 
The food and water vessels for all 
these birds should be inside the cage, 
and they should be made of glass or 
china, as these are easier to keep 
thoroughly clean. To avoid terrifying 
the bird by putting the hand inside the 
cage, it is a good plan to have the food 
and water holders made to slip in through 
holes in the front, which should be at 
each end of the cage and well away from 
the perches. 
The Stone chat (Saxicola Rubicola). 
The Stonechat is not a summer 
migrant, but is one of the few soft-billed 
birds that remain with us through the 
winter, though doubtless some indi¬ 
viduals of the species migrate. Stone- 
chats are very widely distributed, being 
found in many parts of Europe and 
Asia, and even in South Africa there are 
birds which strongly resemble them. 
The Stonechats Habitat. 
In England the Stonechat is generally 
found on commons and dry heaths 
where there is plenty of furze and 
brambles, and in September it may be 
seen in numbers on the stretches of grass 
which run along the edge of the cliffs of 
the Norfolk coast. On commons it 
may often be seen sitting on the highest 
branch of a furze or bramble bush, from 
which position it will dart towards the 
ground after an insect, returning to the 
perch it left just as the Spotted Flycatcher 
does. If you try to get close to this 
bird it has a way of dropping gently to 
the ground as if to hide behind the bush 
it was perched on, but when you have 
crept quietly up the bird has disap¬ 
peared; it slipped away unobserved, and 
is very likely again watching you from 
the top of a bush a few yards farther 
away. 
The Stonechat is decidedly a hand¬ 
some bird, although he has no brilliant 
colouring. His head and throat are 
glossy black, and round his neck is a 
