DESCRIPTION, DISTRIBUTION, HABITS 



Length, 7.25 ; tail, 3.35 ; wing, 3.20. 



Distribution. — All parts of South Africa. 



Habits. — This familiar little hird may be seen in gardens 

 and about the streets of towns and villages. It is met with 

 almost everywhere, and especially in the neighbourhood of water. 

 The nest is made of a mass of materials, such as roots, hair, 

 rags, grass, and dead leaves, Hned with short hair, wool, feathers, 

 and fur. It is open and cup shaped, and placed under a stone, 

 in a cavity amongst roots, etc., on river banks, or in crevices 

 in walls, outhouses, creepers, and, in fact, almost anywhere. 

 Clutch, 3 to 4 ; eggs buff, profusely spotted and blotched with 

 brown ; size, 0.84 by 0.56. 



Ray's Yellow Wagtail {Motacilla campestris). (Vol. I., 



P- 237O 



Description. — Male : olive-yellow on the back, changing 

 to bright yellow on the rump. Upper tail coverts olive with 

 yellow edging. Head yellow and olive-yellow. Under parts 

 yellow, the sides tinged with greenish. 



Length, b.\\ tail, 3. 10; wing, 2.70. 



Distribution. — Cape Coast to Europe. 



Habits. — This wagtail breeds in Europe, and migrates in 

 the autumn and appears in South Africa in the winter time. 

 It is a comparatively rare visitor to this country. A specimen 

 was obtained on the seashore at Humewood, Port Elizabeth, 

 13th April 1909. This is the only recorded instance of its 

 appearance in the Cape Province. Ray's yellow wagtail has 

 the same habits as the common Cape species. No instance of 

 its breeding in South Africa is recorded. 



African Pied Wagtail {Motacilla vidua). (Vol. I., 



P- 237O 



Description. — Black and pure white, as shown in the 

 illustration. 



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