PIED WAGTAIL. 63 



chosen in a hole of the thatch, or in the side of a wood- 

 or hay-stack, or under a heap of stones in a quarry. The 

 nest is a somewhat slovenly structure, but as a rule is 

 well wedged and built into the hole. Externally it is 

 made of almost any kind of vegetable refuse that may 

 cliance to be readily obtainable — dry grass, straws, twigs, 

 roots, moss, dry leaves, bits of frayed rope or twine, 

 w^ood-shavings, and large feathers, all loosely interwoven. 

 The inside is thickly and warmly lined with any kind of 

 hair that can be got, wool, and feathers. As a rule the 

 frontage of the nest is much wider and more bulky than 

 the back. The female sits rather closely. I have known 

 her remain brooding on her eggs until a large heap of 

 stones had been removed. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Pied Wagtail are from four to six in 

 number, usually the latter. They are grayish or bluish- 

 white in ground colour, thickly freckled, and more 

 sparingly spotted with pale brown, and with numerous 

 underlying markings of a similar character, of grayish- 

 brown and violet-gray. On some eggs a few fine lines 

 of very dark brown occur. There are at least two very 

 distinct types. The first, usually grayish-white in ground 

 colour, has the markings large and blotchy and pale 

 brown, most of them on the surface, and round the large 

 end of the q^q,. The second type has the ground colour 

 bluish-white, and the markings finer, of a grayer brown, 

 and dusted over the entire surface, but most numerous 

 round the large end of the &'g% : the underlying mark- 

 ings are both small and numerous, and very gray in 

 colour. Average measurement, "8 inch in length, by '6 

 inch in breadth. Incubation, performed chiefly by the 

 female, lasts fourteen days. 



Diagnostic characters : It is impossible to give 

 any character that will distinguish the eggs of the Pied 



