stonechat Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun common European chat with black plumage and a reddish-brown breast
    Saxicola torquata.

WordNet

Stone"chat` noun
Etymology
Stone + chat.
So called from the similarity of its alarm note to the clicking together of two pebbles.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) (a) A small, active, and very common European singing bird (Pratincola rubicola); -- called also chickstone, stonechacker, stonechatter, stoneclink, stonesmith. (b) The wheatear. (c) The blue titmouse. ✍ The name is sometimes applied to various species of Saxicola, Pratincola, and allied genera; as, the pied stonechat of India (Saxicola picata).

Webster 1913