GREY-AND- YELLOW WAGTAIL. 241 



have not seen for many months ; but here are two of them, 

 upon the stones in Braid Burn. There they flutter about, 

 alight, run, and shoot into the air ; they are evidently a pair, 

 and the male is easily distinguished from the female by the 

 deep black patch on his throat. They have no doubt chosen 

 this quiet spot, flanked with steep banks covered with trees, in 

 which to rear their young. While the Pied Wagtails are now 

 found in the neighbourhood of quarries, on stony slopes, in pas- 

 tures, or in meadows, this species is rarely to be seen elsewhere 

 than on streams, although instances of its nestling at a consi- 

 derable distance from them sometimes occur. They are now 

 shy, observant, and somewhat clamorous ; but although they 

 are constantly flying from place to place, they imagine them- 

 selves safe at no great distance. 



The nest is placed on the ground, among grass or stones, 

 and is composed of stems and blades of dry grass, mixed with 

 moss and vrool, and lined with wool, hair, and feathers. The 

 eggs, from five to eight, are generally nine-twelfths long, seven- 

 twelfths in breadth, with a greyish-v^hite ground, spotted all 

 over M^ith faint greyish-brown. Sometimes the nest is found 

 in a hole of a bank, or between large stones. 



" In our neighbourhood," Mr Weir writes, " the Grey Wag- 

 tails generally build their nests in a rocky situation on the water 

 side. To this however I know one exception. For several 

 years past, a pair have built at Balbardie House. In the year 

 1835 they erected their abode in a small wooden spout above 

 the feather-house door. Last year, one of the panes of glass 

 above the said door having been broken, they changed their old 

 situation, being determined to try an inside residence. They 

 accordingly flew in by the window, and built their nest on a 

 shelf, where they brought forth five young. They made a 

 second nest on the window sole of the dairy, a few yards from 

 the former one. And, what is remarkable, their nests were 

 about two hundred yards distant from Balbardie Lough, or the 

 nearest place where there is water." 



In autumn, when the young are full-grown, and accompany 

 their parents, it is amusing to watch these Wagtails as they 

 seek their food along the margins of some pebbly stream. On, 



VOL. II. R 



