10(j GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS. 



is iiuule near the uroiuid or even on it, in some hole or 

 other, and the e.^i-s are speckled with brown. 



Wa,L;tails ai-e onlv fonnd in open uronnd, and are 

 particularly iond oi the nei.^hbourhood of water, in which 

 they wade and paddle like Sandpipers. They are most 

 useful as well as ornamental birds, and deserve every 

 protection ; they would also be useful birds to acclimatise 

 where insectivorous species are needed, as their diet is 

 so exclusively restricted to insects that they can do no 

 harm at all. 



WaLitails are found nearly all over the Eastern 

 Hemisphere, usually migratin,^ southwards in winter, but 

 none are iidiabitants of Australia or New Zealand, and one 

 or two kinds only invade America. Wherever they occur 

 they are common and familiar birds, and (generally popular. 

 They are seldom kept in confinement, and are not suited 

 for eaue-life. but in an aviary they do very well, being 

 easier to keep than most small insectivorous birds. 

 Delicate and fragile as they look, however, they are most 

 savage birds, and it is impossible to keep even two of 

 ditlercjit species together unless they be cock and lien. 

 In this case, however, they have been known to inteibreed 

 in captivity. 



There are good many species of Wagtails in India, 

 mostly winter visitors; the natives know them generally 

 as Dhobrin, a name which exactly eorresi)onds to the 

 French Liivdndiere ; 1 suppose the wagging of the bird's 

 tail and its fondness for water have suggested a com- 

 parLson with th<' wife of the miscreant who batters 

 clothes. 



