riED WAGTAIL. 63 



chosen in a hole of tlic thatch, or in the side of a wood- 

 or hay-stack, or under a heap of stones in a quarry. The 

 nest is a somewhat slovenly structure, but as a rule is 

 well wedged and built into the hole. Externally it is 

 made of almost any kind of vegetable refuse that may 

 chance to be readily obtainable — dry grass, straws, twigs, 

 roots, moss, dry leaves, bits of frayed rope or twine, 

 wood-shavings, and large feathers, all loosely interwoven. 

 The inside is thickly and warmly lined with any kind of 

 hair that can be got, wool, and feathers. As a rule the 

 frontage of the nest is much wider and more bulky than 

 the back. The female sits rather closely. I have known 

 her remain brooding on her eggs until a large heap of 

 stones had been removed. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement: 

 The eggs of the Pied Wagtail are from four to six in 

 number, usually the latter. They are grayish or bluish- 

 white in ground colour, thickly freckled, and more 

 sparingly spotted with pale brown, and with numerous 

 underlying markings of a similar character, of grayish- 

 brown and violet-gray. On some eggs a few fine lines 

 of very dark brown occur. There are at least two very 

 distinct types. The first, usually grayish-white in ground 

 colour, has the markings large and blotchy and pale 

 brown, most of them on the surface, and round the large 

 end of the cg^. The second type has the ground colour 

 bluish-white, and the markings finer, of a grayer brown, 

 and dusted over the entire surface, but most numerous 

 round the large end of the o.^^'g : the underlying mark- 

 ings are both small and numerous, and very gray in 

 colour. Average measurement, 8 inch in length, by '6 

 inch in breadth. Incubation, performed chiefly by the 

 female, lasts fourteen days. 



Diagnostic characters : It is impossible to give 

 any character that will distinguish the eggs of the Pied 



