GREY WAGTATUL. 171 
move into more retired situations to breed, and are then 
supposed to have migrated. 
They are solitary birds, a pair being the number ordinarily 
seen together. Instances have been known of their coming 
to windows like the other species, but whether to look at 
themselves as in what in Yorkshire is called a ‘seeing glass,’ 
or for some other reason, is a matter about which we are in 
entire ignorance. In severe weather they naturally become 
more tame than at other times; one has been known, of all 
laces, to enter a museum. 
The flight of this Wagtail exhibits the same airy hghtness 
that characterizes the rest of its family. On a sudden it bounds 
away in an undulating sweep, if alarmed, to a distance, but 
otherwise, probably, it soon drops again: then it runs with 
rapid steps along the margin of the ‘glassy, clear, translucent 
lake,’ as ‘fair’ in the eye of the ornithologist, as ‘Sabrina’ 
herself, or glides on the bank of the winding river, the still 
pool, or the running brook; into which at times it wades, or 
alights on some extant weeds, or bank of apparently treacherous 
mud, or quicksand, on which its light feet scarce leave a 
faint impression. On first alighting, the side feathers of the 
tail are conspicuously expanded. These birds, hke the others, 
are fond of running along the ridge of a‘ house top, probably 
in pursuit or quest of insects. They perch occasionally on 
trees, especially when first alarmed. 
Their food consists of imsects and minute shell-fish. The 
former they capture both by running and flying after them. 
The note is rather shrill, but feeble. 
Two broods are produced in the year; the first of which is 
generally fledged by the end of May, the latter in July, and 
these consort with’ their parents till late in autumn. 
The nest is generally placed on the ground, among grass 
or stones, in the hollow of a bank or rock, usually near 
the borders of a stream; but not always, for it has sometimes 
been met with at a distance from water. One pair has been 
known to build in a spout, and the following year on a shelf 
in an outhouse, to which a broken pane of glass gave them 
ingress; and again, on the window sill of a dairy, near the 
previous one. Another pair built their nest between the 
‘switches’ of a railway, within two or three inches of every 
train that passed. It is formed of small fibres and roots, 
moss and grass, and is lined with wool, hair, or feathers. 
The eggs are from five to six, or even eight in number, 
