THE PIED WAGTAIL. 81 



are much more shy than the newly-arrived " flight 

 birds/' which, with their plumage advanced to that 

 of the breeding season — the effect of a warmer 

 climate — are comparatively tame and easily 

 caught ; they are at once attracted by the decoy, 

 and fly into the net in unsuspicious haste. 



Goldfinches again become numerous in October, 

 when detached parties, including the young of the 

 year, which have been spread through other por- 

 tions of the island during the summer, draw to- 

 wards the sea, and pass eastward in succession, 

 until they find — in some part of Kent, as I imagine 

 — a favourable spot for crossing the Channel. 



The pied wagtail* arrives from the continent on 

 the shores of Sussex about the middle of March. 

 Although several spend the winter here, these 

 bear but a small proportion to the numbers that 

 visit us in the spring. On fine days during this 

 season I have frequently seen them approaching 

 the coast, aided by a gentle breeze from the south, 



* A few years have elapsed since I was first struck 

 by the incorrectness of the received opinion that our pied 

 wagtail was migratory only in the noithern, but station- 

 ary in the southern, counties of England; and a portion 

 of the following remarks on that bird appeared at the 

 time in a communication made by me to the '"Zoologist," 

 which was subsequently noticed by Mr, Yarrell, in the 

 second edition of his " History of British Birds," 



