18 FRIENDS OF THE AGRICULTURIST 



Natal, Orange Free State and Transvaal, becoming scarce 

 in Ehodesia and South- West Africa. The confiding little 

 Quickstertje, in its soft grey coat, is too well-known to 

 need any description whatever. 



It is a familiar figure in the neighbourhood of any farm- 

 house and along watercourses, where it usually nests under 

 a tuft of grass on the edge of the bank or on a ledge in the 

 bank itself. We have also found the nest situated on willow 

 stumps and in creepers growing on the side of a house. It 

 builds a cup-shaped nest of grass lined with twine, wool, 

 &c. ; its exterior is often of an untidy appearance, but inside 

 it is neat and cosy. The Cape Wagtail lays three eggs of 

 a buffish tinge thickly marked with pale brown. When 

 incubated the mottlings often become obscure, giving the egg 

 a general brownish tinge. 



Bay's Yellow Wagtail (M. camjjesiris) is a rare migrant 

 from Europe, breeding in the British Isles and Southern 

 Russia. We saw a single specimen on the Jokeskei River, 

 north of Johannesburg, in December, 1905. 



The Blue-headed Wagtail (M. flava) is olive-yellow above 

 and bright yellow below, with a blue-grey head. It is also 

 a migrant from Europe and Asia, ranging as far south as 

 Natal, Transvaal and Damaraland. 



The Black-headed Wagtail (M. melajwcejfhala) is another 

 European bird, but has only been once recorded from South 

 Africa — by Ayres, from the Transvaal. 



The Wagtails are true friends of the farmer, being almost 

 exclusively insect feeders, accounting for large numbers of 

 plant-bugs and lice, mosquitoes, caterpillars, &c. 



SUGAR-BIRDS 



The Sugar-Birds (Promeropidce), called Zuiker-vogels by 

 the Boers — a name shared by the Sunbirds — are also real 



