146 BIRD GALLERY, 
No. 27. YELLOW WAGTAIL. (Motacilla campestris.) 
Ray’s Wagtail, as this species is often called, is a regular summer 
visitor to the British Islands; it arrives early im April and departs in 
September. During the breeding-season it is generally distributed 
throughout England and the south of Scotland, extending as far north 
as Perthshire, while in parts of Ireland it is also fairly common. ‘The 
nest of moss and dry grass, lined with feathers, hair, and fine roots, is 
placed on the ground and well concealed among rank grass and herbage. 
From four to six greyish-white eggs, mottled with yellowish-brown, are 
laid towards the end of May, and two broods are sometimes reared in 
a season. 
Norfolk, May. 
Presented by Lord Walsingham. 
No. 28. PIED WAGTAIL. (Motacilla lugubris.) 
During the breeding-season this is a common and generally distributed 
species throughout the British Islands, but in winter many birds move 
southwards and a partial migration takes place in autumn and spring. 
Flies and insects form its principal food, and are caught as it runs 
swiftly and gracefully over the ground. The nesting-place is very varied, 
but a cleft in a bank or some hole in a wall or rotten tree are the sites 
generally selected by the bird. The nest, made of moss, grass and 
roots, is lined with hair and feathers, and from four to six dull grey 
eggs, spotted and streaked with ash-brown, are laid towards the 
end of April. Two broods are frequently reared in a season. The 
Cuckoo often places her eggs in the nest of this Wagtail. The 
male bird in the group exhibited is a White Wagtail (M. alba), and 
affords an interesting example of interbreeding between two allied 
species. 
Norfolk, June. 
Presented by Lord Walsingham. 
No. 29. ROCK-PIPIT. (Anthus obscurus.) 
This shore-frequenting species is common along the coasts of the 
British Islands, frequenting the more rocky portions during the breeding- 
season. Its food consists of marine insects, flies, small shells, and 
crustacea, which it obtains among the seaweed at low water. The 
nest, made of dry grasses, is placed in a crevice of the rocks, among a 
