BRITAIN S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 285 



there they may often be seen hiinting for the insects 

 disturbed by the grazing cattle, near which the birds 

 generally keep. The nest may be in some sheltered 

 hollow or among long herbage. Grass and moss outside, 

 hair, feathers, and roots inside, are the chief materials, 

 but considerable variety is displayed. The four to six 

 eggs are not very different from those of the preceding 

 species. Two broods are sometimes reared. 



THE BLUE=HEADED WAGTAIL 



(Motacilla flava). 



The Blue-headed Wagtail is another member of the 

 group which has long been recognised as distinct, the 

 bluish head being fairly noticeable in full-plumaged birds. 

 Otherwise it strongly resembles the typical Yellow Wag- 

 tail, and its habits and eggs are similar. Owing to con- 

 fusion with that bird, fiill details about the Blue-headed 

 WagtaiPs distribution are still wanting ; but it appears to 

 be chiefly an April and August migrant to the east coast 

 of Scotland and all the shores of England and Wales. It 

 nests in small numbers in the south-east of England, and 

 has done so in Durham and probably in Aberdeenshire. 



THE MEAD0W=PIP1T, OR TITLARK 



(Anthus pratensis). 



Plate 99. 



The Pipits form a second group of the Wagtail family, 

 and resemble their congeners in many ways. They are 

 ground-nesters, largely insectivorous in diet, inhabitants 

 of open waste lands, and songsters of at least moderate 



