106 THE BIRDS OF KENT 



thickets is a great protection, and in such places it may 

 be seen searching, niouse-Hke, for its insect food. 



In some instances the nests are very difficult to find, 

 and in others they are most conspicuous. A nest was 

 found on the wood-side at Kuckinge, built in a stunted 

 elm bush on a level with the face of the passers-by, in 

 fact, one could look into the hole of it and see the eggs ; 

 another was close down to the ground among a lot of 

 rubbish and leaves, and if it had not been for the bird 

 flying out it might have been passed over and over again. 

 A nest was found by Mr. H. Lamb, in 1875, not far from 

 Maidstone ; it was placed in the top of an arch on the 

 South-Eastern Bailway, within a foot of the rails, but the 

 birds, after completing the nest, deserted it. 



Family MOTACILLTD^. 



Genus MOTACILLA, Linnaeus. 

 WHITE WAGTAIL. 



Motacilla alba, Linnaeus. ^S'.A^., \i., p. 331 (1766). 



The AVhite Wagtail, although frequently met with 

 along the coast of Kent during the summer and autumn, 

 is not so abundant as the Pied Wagtail, and no doubt 

 it is often overlooked. 



Dr. F. Plomley, writing to the Zoologist in 1846, says : 

 " My attention having been drawn, since the publication 

 of Mr. Yarrell's Supplement, to the White Wagtail {Mota- 

 cilla alba), I find they are very common in this part of 

 of Kent (Lydd), as I seldom pass a day without seeing 

 several pairs, though I have not yet been able to get 

 their eggs." 



