122 PIED WAGTAIL. 



On the Continent the Pied Wagtail is ahaiost restricted to the 

 western portion. It occurs, and perhaps breeds, in the south-west 

 of Scandinavia ; visits Denmark ; passes over Heligoland, Holland 

 and Belgium on the spring migration, and nests sparingly in the north- 

 west of France ; while in the south-west I observed that males of 

 this species and of the White Wagtail were in full plumage from 

 the latter part of December to the end of March, after which 

 both disappeared. The Pied Wagtail arrives in Portugal about 

 October 20th, and leaves in March, in the which month I obtained 

 an adult male at Seville, Spain ; and it occurs near Tangier in 

 Morocco. Eastward, it has been met with irregularly in autumn 

 from Nice to Sardinia, Sicily, and Malta 



Breeding generally begins early in April ; the nest — of moss, dry 

 grass and roots, lined with hair and feathers — being in some cleft of a 

 bank, wall, rock or quarry, a decayed or pollarded tree, the thatch 

 of a building, a faggot stack, or even an open field. The Cuckoo 

 often places her egg in it. The 4-6 eggs are greyish-white, closely 

 speckled and streaked with ash-brown : measurements "8 by '6 in. 

 Two broods are often reared in the season. The bird feeds 

 principally on insects obtained in the meadows, moist ground, and 

 shallow water, to which it is partial ; on the coast it eats the flies 

 &c. found amongst the sea-drift, and Mr. Tait observed it hovering 

 over the water to pick up the floating ova of a small crab, while 

 Booth says that it is fond of glow-worms. The call-note is a sharp 

 chiz-zic; the song, seldom heard except in spring, is short but agree- 

 able. The quick running movements of this pretty bird, and the 

 lively motion of its long tail, must be familiar to every one. 



Adult male in breeding-plumage : forehead and sides of the head 

 and neck pure white, contrasting strongly with the deep black of the 

 crown, nape, throat and breast ; mantle, rump and wing-coverts 

 black, the latter with white margins which form a double bar; quills 

 blackish, the inner secondaries — nearly as long as the primaries — 

 margined with white on the outer edge ; tail-feathers black, except 

 the two outer pairs which are mainly white ; belly white ; sides and 

 flanks blackish; bill, legs and feet black. Length 7-3 in.; wing 

 3 "5 in. The female has a shorter tail, the back is lead-grey with 

 somewhat darker streaks, and the black on the crown and breast is 

 less extensive. After the autumn moult both sexes lose the black 

 chin and throat, and become greyer on the back. The young are 

 like those of M. alba, next to be described, but darker on the upper 

 parts. 



