THE PERCHING BIRDS. 157 



spiders that abound in every ruin in Tuscany. The wings 

 are conspicuously marked with crimson. 



lo. The Wagtails and Pipits. 



[These birds nest on the ground, often near water, and 

 feed on insects. It is hard, in dealing with this group, 

 to distinguish the residents and migrants. Three (par- 

 tially migratory) residents ; three regular visitors, six 

 irregular visitors.] 



Though many stay throughout the year, it is more satis- 

 factory to regard the Pied Wagtail as a summer migrant. 

 *Pied Known in many parts as the " water- w^agtail," 



"Wagtail, this bird is widely distributed over these 

 islands, where it is often seen in much the same situations 

 as those affected by the dipper, though commonly found in 

 gardens far from water. Its call-note is loud and sharp. 

 It does not plunge, but trips among the shallows, seizing 

 aquatic insects from the water. By no means an excep- 

 tionally shy bird, this wagtail is easily stalked with bin- 

 oculars so long as the observer keeps moving, but a 

 moment's halt is sufficient to rouse its suspicions, and 

 aw^ay it goes, its undulating flight clearing the crests of 

 imaginary waves. It is a black-and-white bird, with white 

 face. 



Besides aquatic insects and molluscs, it is said to feed 

 on glowworms. 



The nest, large for a bird of its size but withal neat, is 

 built in April in the bank of its favourite water or in a 

 stump hard by. It is of moss or soft grasses, lined wdth 

 hair and feathers. In suitable localities many nest in close 

 proximity, and I knew of five nests, all with young birds, 

 within 50 yards of a bend in the little stream that runs 

 through Buckland, behind Dover. A nest of the pied 

 wagtail was found this summer (1897) in a truck of coal 

 that had just arrived at Poole from the north country. It 



