52 STONECE AT 
varied and conspicuous plumage presenting an attractive object, 
to which, if otherwise unobservant of it, its singular note will 
probably draw your attention. ; 
It is of a restless and noisy habit, and seldom remains long 
in one spot, perching on the topmost part of a bush or stone, 
or hanging on some reed that bends with its weight, and 
flying down from thence to pick up something from the ground; 
on the latter, however, it hut seldom stops for any lengthened 
space. 
The Stonechat is a hardy bird, and remains with’ us 
throughout the year; but would seem to make a partial home 
migration in the autumn, leaving the wilder for more sheltered 
and warmer situations; the young birds at all events seem to 
quit their place, if the parents remain behind About the 
end of March they return again to their haunts. 
They are found singly or in pairs, though several individuals 
may frequently be seen near together ,in the same immediate 
neighbourhood. In very severe winters they come into gardens, 
and approach quite close to cottages and houses. They, too, 
like others of their class, have a frequent movement of the 
body and the tail. They are very anxious for their young, 
if danger approaches, and keep flying about in evident alarm 
as long as it appears to threaten. They often seem to vanish 
suddenly from sight, dropping as it were, from where they 
stood, and then after flying close to the ground for some way, 
rise up again to some other resting-place. They are not shy 
in their habits, though rather wary. They may be kept if 
taken from the nest, but only with great care. 
The flight of this species is, for the most part, a succession 
of short flits or starts. They roost upon the ground, and 
are sometimes taken by bird-catchers in their nets. 
Their food is made up of insects, larve, and worms; the 
former they frequently take on the wing, making short sallies 
from their stand on the top of a bush. 
The ordinary note of this bird, which is somewhat of a 
melancholy cast, is a ‘chat’ ‘chat, chat,’ resembling the sound 
produced by striking two stones together; hence the name 
of the bird, unless it be derived from its supposed habit of 
frequenting stony places, which however is not the case, farther 
than that barren districts, which are its favourite resort, are 
for the most part stony, not having come under the hand of 
the cultivator—these are the two roots of the name, and 
“utrum horum mavis accipe.’ Buffon likens the note to the 
