WHITE WAGTAIL 67 



small birds — finches, warblers, and the rest — move 

 by hopping ; but Wagtails all run, and hardly 

 ever make any semblance of a hop unless the 

 sudden bound into the air after some passing fly be 

 called a hop. No bird is neater or more graceful in 

 line than this, and I am sadly conscious of how little 

 of its real beauty the drawing gives ; the dainti- 

 ness with which it does everything is singularly 

 beautiful. Though many pass the winter in 

 Egypt some must go farther south, as when the 

 time comes for their return to their northern 

 breeding-places in February and March there 

 is a notable increase in their numbers, and I 

 remember one particular evening in March when 

 the whole cultivated ground round the Ramaseum, 

 Thebes, was literally covered with them, and as 

 darkness came on even more seemed to be dropping 

 in on every side. The next day, when I went to 

 the same place, the bulk had already gone, and 

 there were hardly more than you could see at any 

 time. 



The Yellow Wagtail is a smaller bird than the 

 White. Ornithologists record no less than three 

 species as found in Egypt, all having yellow 

 breasts. The Grey-headed Yellow Wagtail is the 

 one most abundant, and for beauty is unsurpassed. 



