106 GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS. 
is made near the ground or even on it, in some hole or 
other, and the eggs are speckled with brown. 
Wagtails are only found in open ground, and are 
particularly fond of the neighbourhood of water, in 
which they wade and paddle like Sandpipers. They 
are most useful as well as ornamental birds, and 
deserve every protection; they would also be useful 
birds to acclimatise where insectivorous species are 
needed, as their diet is so exclusively restricted to 
insects that they can do no harm at all. 
Wagtails are found nearly all over the Eastern 
Hemisphere, usually migrating southwards in winter, but 
none are inhabitants of Australia or New Zealand, and 
one or two kinds only invade America. Wherever 
they occur they are common and familiar birds, and 
generally popular. They are seldom kept in confinement, 
and are not suited for cage-life, but in an aviary they do 
very well, being easier to keep than most small insec- 
tivorous birds. Delicate and fragile as they look, how- 
ever, they are most savage birds, and it is impossible to 
keep even two of different species together unless they 
be cock and hen. In this case, however, they have been 
known to interbreed in captivity. 
There are good many species of Wagtails in India, 
mostly winter visitors ; the natives know them generally 
as Dhobrin, a name which exactly corresponds to the 
French Lavandiére ; I suppose the wagging of the bird’s 
tail and its fondness for water have suggested a com- 
parison with the wife of the miscreant who batters y, 
clothes. 
