VirREATEAR, or FALLOW-Cam., Saxicola mnanthe, a bird of the genus popularly known by the name chat (q.v.), of the family syleiada, a common summer visitant of Britain, abounding on downs and fallow fields. Its geographic range is wide. Its winter,retreat is in the countries near the Mediterranean, and chiefly in Africa; its summer migrations extend to the furthest n. of Europe, and to Iceland and Greenland. A few wheatears spend the winter on the southern coasts of England. The entire length of the wheatear is about 6+ in.; the tail is almost square; the wings are long and pointed ; and the legs are long, enabling the bird to hop about actively in quest of food. Its food consists of and insects, and it may often be seen perched on the top of a clod or stone, look lug out for them, and at the same time on the watch against enemies. The male is of an ash-brown color on the upper parts; the forehead, a band above the eyes, and the throat, white; a black mark extending from the base of the bill to each eye, and expand ing behind it, so as to cover the orifice of the ear; the wings, black; the rump, and two thirds of the tail,except the two middle feathers, white; the tip of the tail, black; the two middle feathers of the tail, entirely black; the breast, buff-color; the belly and flanks, pale huffy white. The female is less gayly colored, brown and gray prevailing. The wheaten'• makes its nest in an old wall, or in a crevice of a quarry or gravel-pit, often in a deserted rabbit-burrow, and generally lays six pale-blue eggs. The male has a pleasant'. but not loud song, and sings well in confinement, in winter as well as in summer. This little bird is much esteemed for the table, and great numbers are therefore annually caught, not only on the continent of Europe, but in England, where small birds are sought after for such use. It is chiefly on the downs of the s. of 'Eng land, where vast flocks congregate before their autumn migration, that wheatears are caught for the market. The shepherds catch them by means of nooses placed in little excavations made in the ground, advantage being thus taken of the habits of the bird,. which upon the least alarm, or even the shadow of a passing cloud, runs to hide itself in any little hollow that may be near. The usual practice of the shepherds is to cut out
an oblong piece of turf, about 11 in. by 8, and 6 in. thick, which they lay across the hole that is made, making sloping entrances at the ends of the hole, and setting nooses under the turf in the center. As many as 84 dozen wheatears have been thus caught by a sin gle shepherd in a day. It is not unusual for a shepherd and his lad to look after from 500 to 700 of these traps. The season for catching wheatears extends from the end of July to the end of They are partly sent to the Loudon market, but very many are consumed at the watering-places ou the Sussex coast.
the popular name of certain species of dipterous insects, which are often very injurious to wheat crops. One of them, cecidom t yia (see CECIDODIYIA), sometimes called the WHEAT MIDGE, and belonging to the same genus with the destruc tive Hessian fly of America, is too common both on the continent of Europe and in Britain, but fortunately is not very abundant except in particular years. It is supposed to be the same fly which appeared in the n. of New England in 1898, probably imported: from the old world, and thence spread into New York and Canada, destroying a tenth part of the wheat-crop for several years, and only disappearing on being starved out by a change of crop, or by late spring-sowing of wheat. The eggs are deposited in the. wheat when it is coming into dower, and the larva; abstracting the juices, cause the grain to shrivel. The perfect insect appears in June, when great numbers may some times be seen on wing in the evening, their chief time of activity. It is about one-teuth of an inch in length, pale ocherous or orange, downy, with large black eves, and long slender legs; the male with very long antennae. The antennm of the male differ much in structure from those of the female, and are of twenty-five joints, while those of the female have only thirteen. The lame are small and lemon-colored. A little black. ichneumon lays its eggs in the larva of the wheat-fly, and is thus useful to the farmer by destroying it.—The name wheat-fly is also given to species of the genus c/dorops (see COUN-Fal), destructive to wheat.