wheater

noun

1. (alt-of, misspelling)Misspelling of wheatear (“bird”).

   “It is particularly famous for its wheaters, a small bird, of the size of a lark, not much inferior to an ortolane, which is taken on the SE.”

   “The people have plenty of patridges, woodcocks, snipes, thrushes, woodpigeons, turtle doves, wheaters, and poultry.”

   “As less and less of the Downs is used as traditional pasture and more grassland is turned over to arable agriculture, the once-common wildlife species – the Adonis Blue and Chalkhill Blue butterflies, grasshoppers and the wheater bird, for example – are fast disappearing.”