Northern Observations of Inland Birds 235 



in peaceful admiration of its surroundings, and merging 

 so perfectly into the soft blends of sand and shadow 

 that it escapes even the keen eye of the angler till he all 

 but steps upon it. But the bird is perhaps seen at its 

 best when hunting for insects among the mosses, darting 

 rapidly from stone to stone and pecking the minute morsels 

 from the fronds, diverting at intervals to catch in its 

 flight a gauzy-winged spinner, or perhaps to wade knee- 

 deep in order to snatch some minute atom from the 

 surface. On account of its very liveHness when most 

 generally seen, that is during feeding hours, the wagtail 

 strikes one as an almost melancholy little figure as he sits 

 motionless over his own reflection between such times. 

 I believe that the first wild bird's nest I ever found 

 was that of a grey wagtail. It was located under the over- 

 hang of a grassy hillock, one of those circular mounds 

 so often found among the boulders and pebbles on the 

 flood margins of mountain streams. On that river — 

 the River Wharfe — the grey wagtails specially favour 

 these mounds for nesting purposes, albeit that while 

 these places are well above the summer level of the 

 stream, even a moderate spate may see them inundated. 

 So, what the partiality costs the grey wagtails year after 

 year, no man can say. Spring after spring they return 

 there to breed, spring after spring, like the rabbit families 

 in the sandy banks, their nests are washed out, and their 

 hopes swept away. Yet, like the rabbits, they become 

 no wiser as time passes, and as the first nest I found was 

 destroyed by the floodwaters, so year after year until 

 to-day the wagtails nest in those same tussocks along 

 that rapid stretch, and pay the sad penalty. Indeed I 

 have known a pair, having just lost one nest by a spate, 

 cheerfully to set to work to build another in a neigh- 

 bouring tussock, not ten feet from the first and at the 

 same level. So, if the measure of intellect lies in the power 



