. Birds through the year . from one exposed perchto another, in the course ofwhich its white patch on therump is strikingly soon as it chooses a spotwhere it means to nest, it hasan anxious and obtrusive wayof flitting from perch to perchwith a clacking cry, and rest-lessly twitching its tail. It has the same habit to a lessextent even when disturbed at a casual halting-place ; and itis only a very weary and wayworn wheatear, or one veryeagerly bent on migration, that will flit straight away fromits haunt without this little exhibition of anxious proprietor-ship. Wheatears general
. Birds through the year . from one exposed perchto another, in the course ofwhich its white patch on therump is strikingly soon as it chooses a spotwhere it means to nest, it hasan anxious and obtrusive wayof flitting from perch to perchwith a clacking cry, and rest-lessly twitching its tail. It has the same habit to a lessextent even when disturbed at a casual halting-place ; and itis only a very weary and wayworn wheatear, or one veryeagerly bent on migration, that will flit straight away fromits haunt without this little exhibition of anxious proprietor-ship. Wheatears generally travel in small parties, and thisalso makes them more easily observed. The earliest arrivalsoccur very early in March, and by the twentieth of themonth they are beginning to be common in the birdsfavourite haunts by the sea and on bold, turfy hills withoutcropping stones. The wheatear builds and takes shelterin holes, and therefore likes dry, broken ground. Rabbit-warrens are much to its liking, and on high-lying ground. FIRST COMERS 3 which rabbits avoid it chooses places where split rocks andscattered stone-heaps give it harbourage. Such screes andstony labyrinths are also favourite refuges of the stoat; muchcan be seen of both bird and animal in and under the rocksif we lie and watch for a while on the airy hillsides; and nodoubt the hunting stoat is the wheatears chief enemy duringthe nesting season. Chiffchaffs arrive, on the whole, a little later than wheat-ears, although a few stray specimens are sometimes reportedfrom the south-western counties very early in the year. Bythe end of the third week in March they begin to appear intheir usual haunts, and in most parts of the south and westof England they are regularly present in small numbersbefore the end of the month. When the weather, as oftenhappens, is cold and wintry, they do not sing; but althoughthey may be overlooked for a few days longer than whenthey announce their presence, it is by no means difficult tocatch
Size: 1727px × 1446px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirdspi, bookyear1922
