WARBLERS. 



They are white, with pale red spots. When threatened by an intruder, the 

 mother bird stoutly defends her brood : she puffs out her feathers, hissing 

 loudly, and boldly pecks at the -assailant. 



Sub-Family VI. 

 THE V^AGTAILS. MOTACILLIN/E. 



General Characteristics. — Bill slender, angular between the nostrils, the upper 

 mandible notched; wings with one of the scapulars as long as the closed wing; tail 

 long ; legs long. 



These well-known birds frequent meadows and humid or 

 marshy places, delighting in the borders of rivulets and ponds. 



The White Wagtails have a mode of life peculiar to themselves, 

 and more readily approach man and his habitation than the rest 

 of their congeners; the others, more wild, inhabit the vicinity of 

 meadows. The former prefer stagnant waters ; the latter are gene- 

 rally seen on the borders of springs and running streams. Both 

 run with the cattle, fly about the labourer, and follow the plough 

 in pursuit of small worms and larvae, of which the newly-turned 

 furrows present a vast abundance. These birds, indeed, are as 

 useful as the flycatchers and the swallows : sometimes during 

 their flight, but more frequently on the ground amidst the herb- 

 age, they seize upon the flies and gnats which have escaped the 

 bills of their other pursuers in the air. The insect population of 

 ponds and marshes, however, constitute their chief nourishment. 

 Their slight forms, small head, delicate feet, and long tail, dis- 

 tinguish them at once from all the other Dentirostral birds. 



The type of this sub-family — 



The White Wagtail {Motacilla alba), is everywhere to be seen frequent- 

 ing the margins of ponds and streams. It does not hop, like most of its near 

 relatives, but runs about in search of its insect food, which it pecks from the 

 ground, or occasionally rising with a short jerking flight, snaps at it in the air. 



When on the ground, they are constantly employed in beating the surface 

 with their tails, probably to rouse the insects upon which they feed. They 

 delight in being near the edge of the water, and often approach the washer- 

 women ; and, moreover, seem to imitate with their tails the beating of linen. 

 Hence the French have given them the name of lavandicrcs; while in England 

 they are not unfrequently called by the less elegant name of " dish-washers." 

 They run lightly, with very nimble steps, upon the strand, and their long legs 

 enable them to enter the water to a small depth ; but they are usually seen 

 upon stones or little hillocks in the stream. This wagtail constructs its nest 

 on the ground, under roots of trees, or at the edge of the water, under some 



