The Motacillidse of Germany. 13 



rock over the white pebbles in the shadow of the majestic 

 pines that murmur a low accompaniment to the gushing, 

 spraying cataract, or where the clappering of the mill-wheel 

 breaks the solitude at the entrance into the valley we meet 

 the Mountain Wagtail, dancing cheerily from stone to stone, 

 catching water insects, always trying not to soil its bright 

 garment. As it trips along the foaming eddy its gay song 

 reaches our ear. Though not a beautiful song, still it far 

 surpasses that of its relatives. Now it warns its young, that 

 have been reared in a nest similar to our Phoebe's in con- 

 struction and location, and are following their parents in 

 the first youthful ventures. Only in pairs or small broods do 

 we meet them till they troop together in the fall, and but few 

 brave the winters of the north. The same crafty and jealous 

 spirit as that of the White Wagtail leads it to strife and quarrel, 

 and as the White Wagtail is inseparable from the neighbor- 

 hood of man, so is the Mountain Wagtail ever associated with 

 the dashing, gleeful, glittering silver wavelets of the mountain 

 streams, the pet of young and old, admired and loved by ail 

 who observe it, and yet a true Wagtail in every respect. Never 

 persecuted in a country where laws are not only given, but 

 also enforced, where the small boy is kept under the strict 

 guidance and custody of teachers and parents, where the 

 " ^gg hog" is a myth, it will always live and thrive to adorn 

 as a jolly, rollicking, roving elf the wild streams of the Ger- 

 man mountains. A bird beautiful to behold, useful in its 

 work and ever cherished in my memory as one of nature's 

 favorites, as I met it in the Hartz or the Sudetic mountains. 

 From the rugged mountains we descend into the broad, 

 fertile plain and instantly the scenery changes. Fields care- 

 fully tilled surround us, cottages with little flax-haired child- 

 ren playing about them decorate the landscape, and green 

 pastures stretch out before us, with cows lazily resting or 

 grazing in them. Rural serenity greets us as we walk over 

 the pastures. Numerous Yellow Wagtails attract us by their 

 pretty garb; even though they may nest quite a distance 

 away, they seek such places for their food. Smaller and less 



