Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Whin-Chat

WHIN-CHAT, or Motacilla rubetra, L. a bird found on British heaths and commons, during the summer months: it is about five inches in length; the upper parts of its body being blackish, edged with rufous spots, and the lower extremities are reddish-white; but the legs are black.

Whin-chats build their nests early in the spring, near some low bush or stone; where the female deposits five dusky-white eggs, marked with black spots.—These birds subsist principally on insects; and, when fat, the flavour of their flesh is esteemed equal to that of the Ortolan.