STOJ^IES ABOUT BIRDS. 



grazing in the fields. On hot sultry days the flies are very troublesome, and 

 the cow has to keep switching her tail to drive them off. But presently there 

 is sure to come a little party of wagtails in search of these very flies. They 

 run, and jerk, and dart, and spring, and at every movement there is a gnat 

 or a fly the less. 



The nest is sometimes placed in a snug place among the grass, or on 

 a heap of stones, or even in a hole in an old wall. 



It is made of leaves and stems of grass, mixed with moss, and lined with 

 wool and hair. It is rather large and rough looking, and all kinds of hair 

 are used to line it. 



The mother bird lays five or six eggs on this warm bed : they are of a 

 greyish white colour, and spotted with grey and brown. When the little wag- 

 tails are hatched, their parents rear them with the utmost care, and even 

 when they have left the nest will help them to get their own living. If the 

 mother bird finds an insect larger than usual, she will not eat it herself, but 

 give it to her young one. 



We must tell you that the cuckoo sometimes drops her ^g^ into the 

 wagtail's nest. Then the mother wagtail hatches it as if it had been her own. 

 But the young cuckoo grows so very large, that its foster mother has to settle 

 on its back in order to feed it properly. Then the cuckoo turns its beak round 

 for the food, as if it understood the whole process. 



The wagtail in the picture is called the mountain wagtail, and lives in the 

 mountains of Europe. It is a deep grey colour on the back, and the under 

 parts are yellow. The throat is black, and there is a white line between it 

 and the back. 



The mountain wagtails are met with in all mountainous countries. 



In the winter they migrate to the tropics, like their relations the friendly 

 little wagtails we have been speaking about. They are very sociable, and run 

 about near the houses in the same quick and nimble manner as with us, and 

 have the same twittering note. 



