I I I HH9S1 |9HR liave been caught by a shepherd in one d a y ;
■ " t ^ :r r h B B S ! H IB B BBI Bf§ B i is not unusual for a shepherd uud his lad to look after from live to seven hundred of these traps
They are opened every year about St. James’s Day. the 25th of July, and are all .n operation by the 1st
I f l u st The birds arrive hy hundreds in daily succession (hut not in flocks) for the next six or seven
— depending ■ distance northward a. which they have beeu reared The season f„
catching is conduded about the end of the third week in September, afterwhich very few birds are observed
■Hi says the Wheatear is found in Dalmatia and Morea; both the late Mr Strickland and Mr
Keith Abbott found it i„ Persia, and we learn from Mr. Jerdon that it is found ,n India : be obtained
specimen near Mhow in the cold season ; and it is known to have occurred in the upper provinces.
I In pursuit of flies 8 says Macgillivray, | the Wheatear performs a short excursion in the air, springing
from an eminence or even from the plane ground. Its song is a short, lively, and pleasantly modulated
la rU e which it performs sometimes when perched on a rock, wall, or turf, but more [[—
hovering at a small height in the air, and often in the midst of its short flights, when pursued or H H E
The fituation of the nest and the materials of which it is composed vary according to he nature of the
locality In the I Journal of a Naturalist,’ Mr. Knapp says: “ one had made hey nest deep in the crevice o f a
stone-quarry, so carefully hidden by projecting fragments as not to be observed from without until part of the
rock was removed ; her fabric was large and rudely constructed of dried bents, shreds, ■ ■ ■
collected about the huts on the down, and contained four pale-blue eggs. ccor mg to t le a e I a ^
the Wheatear is very abundant on the warrens in Norfolk and Suffolk, and there usually selects a deserted
rabbit-burrow, in which it places its nest a t some little distance from the entrance, it is composed of dried
roots intermixed with feathers, rabbit’s down, and other light substances.
The late Mr. Sweet informs us that the Wheatear is a very interesting bird for the aviary, as it is almost
continually singing, that it will sing b , night as well as by day if a light be kept ,n the room in which ,t ,s
confined and will continue to sing its g very pleasant and variable song all the winter. When a pair are
kem in a large eage, it is very amusing to see them at play with each other, flying up and down, spreading
onen their long wings in a curious manner, dancing and singing all the time.
Dr Saxby spates that the Wheatear is so clever at imitating the notes of other birds that ,t would of en
require a practised ear indeed to discover the deception. He has often heard it imitate the notes of the
Ovstercatcher, Golden Plover, Rock-Plplt, Wren, and even p art of the song of the Skylark.
That two very marked races o f the Wheatear occur in this country, I have abundant evidence : examples o
the same age and sex and killed at the same time are very similar in colour, but in size differ so much as to
excite attention, and to lead to the belief that they are distinct species. I was at one time impressed with he
idea that all the birds that passed along our eastern coasts early in March were of the^larger race and that
hose which frequent the western coast were of the smaller, hut on the 9th o f May 866, Tart, the fisherman,
of Dungeness, forwarded me two males and a female, which completely dissipated this notion , for one of the
males was of the smaller, and the other o f the larger k in d , and never, in all my experience have I g B S S
great a difference in size and weight of birds of the same species. The least of the two, which was fully adult,
as shown by its grey back, white forehead, and its nearly white breast, measured in its total length 5T inches,
from tip to tip of the outstretched wings 10*, from the carpal joint to the tip 34, bill 44, tail 2*, tars. 14,
weight lo z .; while of the larger, which was suffused with brown on the upper surface, the total length was 6r
inches, extent of outstretched wings 114, from carpal joint to tip 4, bill |4 , tail 2*. tarsi 14, weight 1. oz.
Both exhibited new black feathers on the outer wing-coverts, near the shoulder, which contrasted strongly
with the brown feathers of the remaining portion of the wing. The larger one had entirely new hul-fea hers,
which were black, with white tip s ; in this specimen also there was a smaller amount of white on the forehead,
and the breast and under surface were deep huff; it was very fat, and appeared to be a bird of the preceding
year. The female, which was of the larger race, weighed 1* oz;, measured 114 inches from tip to tip of the
outspread wings, from the carpal joint to the tip 3 f, bill 4, tarsi 14, tail 24.
In spring the two sexes of the Wheatear differ very considerably In appearance; and the autumn young birds
differ from both ; it is a question, however, if they are not all very much alike i winter; when the spring
arrives, a transformation in the dress of the male takes place, of so marked a character as to render him at that
period a most beautiful bird. . SeS S®
The Plate represents two males and a female, of the natural size. The plant is the Spider-Orchis, Oph,p
aranifera.