102 tVagtails at Roost. 



whether any of these birds were still about. Also I thoUL^ht it 

 extremely probable that W'aj^triils niii;ht come here to roost, 

 as the previous days of my tour had shown me that large 

 numbers of Wagtails were about on migration. 



On hrst arrival at the pool things did not look verv 

 propitious; a careful beating of the reeds produced nothing 

 more interesting than a casual Wren-warbler (Prinia Icpida), 

 and the single Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrncnsis), and the 

 little (ireen Bee-eaters (M crops I'iridis), which were working 

 for their living round the margins, might have been seen 

 anywhere else. Several pairs of Pied Bush-Chats (Pratincola 

 caprata), a number of Red-breasted Flycatchers (Muscicapa 

 parva) on migration, a small party or two of Red Avadavats 

 (Sporacgiuthus aiuandava), and a single Blue-throat (Luscinia 

 succica) completed the a\'ifauna of the broken ground. How 

 ever, diligent search revealed the presence of two or three 

 individuals of an interesting bird in a row of Shisham trees tha 

 bordered the line. This was that little known species of 

 Willow Wren (Phylloscopus indlcits) which passes through in 

 small numbers on the spring migration. 



As the sun began to set I observed a few Wagtails flying 

 ower head, and proceeding to investigate where some had settled 

 found with them a flock of Tree-Pipits (Anthus trivialis^, 

 also birds of the spring passage. Wagtails now commenced 

 to arrive in small parties which circled round over the neigh- 

 boiu-hood of the pool, hesitating and calHng, now flying high, 

 now lowering as if to settle, but changing their minds and rising 

 again to their former height. As the dusk fell this continued 

 until there was a cloud of several hundred Wagtails circling 

 over head and crossing in every direction, while a constant 

 stream of individuals kept dropping headlong from the cloud 

 and settling in the rushes; occasional panics seemed to seize 

 upon the birds already settled, as batches of them would rise 

 hastily from the cover and join the ever circling cloud. The 

 soft fluttering of their wings made a pleasant sound amongst 

 the reeds, and the constant twittering of individuals combined 

 to make a well sustained song. ^'et, in spite of their apparent 

 timidity, the birds were bold enough, for I walked into the open 

 close to the rushes, and whilst many birds flew away, others sat 



