Perching Birds. 33 



grey back, instead ol the black back of the last-mentioned species. It is a widely 

 spread form, ranging from Western Europe across Siberia to the Valley 

 of the Yenesei, and wintering in India and in Western and North-eastern Africa. 

 On the Continent the White Wagtail is a very common bird, and it probably occurs 

 more frequently in England than is generally supposed, and it has been certainly 

 identified as nesting occasional!}-. It ranges far to the north in Europe, and in 

 northern Norway it is certainl}' one of the most interesting of the birds, and is 

 remarkable for its lameness. The • Linel.' as> it is called, is to be seen in the 

 vicinity of every ' saeter ' or dairj'-farm in the mountains, and each year that I have 

 visited Norwa\-, these pretty birds have been my constant companions, building their 

 nests on beams in the hay-barns, or in holes in the roofs of the houses. A pair, 

 which were more than usually tame, and frequented Mr. Lort Phillips' house on the 

 Alfheim Lake, reared their _\'oung in a barn in perfect confidence, and when the nest- 

 lings were able to support themselves, the parents brought them down to the lake, 

 where they would run about the verandah or settle down on the boats within a few feet 

 of us. Xo sooner were tht\ started in life than the old female laid a second set of 

 eggs in the same nest and reared a second brood. The short summer in Norway 

 probably accounted for the lack of time necessary for the building of a second nest. 

 The latter is inartisticall}- constructed, and resembles that of the Pied Wagtail of 

 Britain. The eggs are five or six in number (in the second nest above-mentioned 

 there were only four eggs), and are generally lighter than those of il/. lugubris. 



THE GREY This species is intermediate between the ordinary Pied 



WAGT.^IL. Wagtails and the Yellow Wagtails which follow. It has a very 



[Mutacilla long tail, with bright yellow under tail-co\'erts, which are very 



m,ii!iiope.\ conspicuous in both old and young birds. It is light blue-grey 



above with a black throat in summer, this being absent in the winter plumage. 



Young birds can always be told by the fawn-coloured eyebrow, and the tint of the same 



colour which pervades the throat and fore-neck. During the nesting season, the Grey 



Wagtail is decidedly a local bird in Great Britain, but it is universally spread over 



Europe and Northern Asia, though ahvays aftecting its own peculiar haunts. It loves 



rocky places, and builds its nest by the side of mountain streams, though in the South 



of England it may be found in other situations, under the shadow of a sluice-gate in 



water-meadows, or in the ivy against an old building, but always close to water. The 



nest is like that of other Wagtails, but is lined with cow's hair, generally white. The 



eggs vary from five to seven in number, and are rather more uniform in tint than 



those of other Motacillidn. being sometimes of an olive tint or bluish-white, with 



only a little rufous mottling. 



THE YELLOW '^''''*^ species is often known as Ray's Wagtail, and is 



WAGTAIL. of a beautiful canary -yellow on the head and underparts, the 



(Motacilln back being olive-yellow. It is a smaller bird than the pre- 



campestfis.) ceding species, and has a shorter tail. The female is 



3 



