110 
SYLVIA DiE. 
IIVCESS OR ES. 
DENTIROSTRES. 
SYL VIA D/E. 
WHEATEAR, WHITERUMP. 
Saxicola cenanthe. 
PLATE XXX. FIG. III. 
The Wheatear frequents open downs and commons, 
making its nest in the stone walls or turf dykes, by which 
they are intersected. Mr. Knapp informs me that they 
frequently make their entrance by a hole at a considerable 
distance from the nest, passing to it through the interstices 
between the stones ; and that he had in consequence 
greater difficulty in procuring the eggs of the Wheatear 
than those of almost any other bird in his own neighbour¬ 
hood ; and was not.successful till he had offered a premium 
for them amongst the boys of his parish. 
Mr. Yarrell, quoting the information of Mr. Salmon, 
states that the Wheatear is very abundant in the warrens 
of Norfolk and Suffolk, and usually selects a deserted 
rabbit-burrow, in which it places its nest at some little 
distance from the entrance. 
It will also make its nest in the side of a stone quarry 
or gravel-pit, or upon the ground under the shelter of a 
stone or clod of earth. I have found it also in the sand¬ 
bank of a river, at the mouth of a hole perforated by the 
sand-martin. It is made of the finest dry grasses, mixed 
