220 MOTACILLA. WAGTAIL. 



than in any other group ; whence their popular and generic 

 names. They feed upon insects, pupte, and larvae, frequent 

 moist meadows, watery places in general, and especially the 

 muddy margins of streams and lakes. While searching for food 

 they w^alk with alternate steps, often run with great celerity, 

 and occasionally pursue an insect on wing. Their flight is rapid, 

 performed in beautiful, strongly marked curves, and affording 

 a most typical example of the undulatory variety. On settling, 

 they vibrate as if on a pivot, spread out and contract their tail, 

 keeping it considerably inclined upwards. Their notes are short, 

 shrill, rather weak, and frequently repeated. They nestle among 

 the herbage near water, or among stones, form a rather bulky 

 nest of slender stalks and blades of grass, lining it with hair, 

 and deposit from four to six spotted eggs. 



They moult in autumn like the other genera of this family ; 

 and in spring undergo a partial change of plumage, the feathers 

 of the head, neck, and body being renewed then, and partially 

 altered in colour. Three species are met with in this country : 

 the Grey-and- White Wagtail, the Pied or Black-and-white 

 Wagtail, and the Grey-and-yellow Wagtail. 



