68 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 

 Family MOTACILT.ID.E. Genus Motacilla. 



B L U E-H E A D E D WAGTAIL. 



Motacilla flava, Liumi^us. 

 Probably Single Brooded. Laying season, May and June. 



British breeding area: The Blue-headed Wagtail, 

 although common enough across the Channel, is even 

 more rarely known to breed within our limits than the 

 White Wagtail, although there can be small doubt that 

 nests arc repeatedly overlooked. The only authentic 

 instances of this species breeding in the British Islands, 

 so far as is known, were near Gateshead, where its nest 

 has been taken several times. 



Breeding habits : The principal haunts of the 

 Blue-headed Wagtail during the breeding season are 

 marshy meadows and pastures. The flocks of this 

 species that have kept company during the winter 

 disband in April and separate into pairs. The Blue- 

 headed Wagtail appears to pair annually. The site for 

 the nest is invariably on the ground, usually on a bank 

 of the hedgerows, or amongst the herbage of the 

 meadows. The nest, loosely put together, is made 

 externally of dry grass, roots, and bits of moss, and 

 lined with finer roots, horsehair, and occasionally a few 

 feathers. Like most ground-building birds, the present 

 species is a close sitter. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Blue-headed Wagtail are usually five 

 in number, but sometimes as many as six, or in rarer 

 instances only four. They vary from yellowish-white 

 to very pale bluish-white in ground colour, mottled, 

 freckled, and clouded with pale brown. Occasionally a 

 few very dark hair-like lines occur on the larger end of 



