156 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



where it was fed almost incessantly for upwards of 

 an hour by its guardians, one or other of which, 

 however, was never out of sight of the voracious 

 fledgling. A very favourite spot for the Pied AVag- 

 tail is a ford or shallow whereat cattle come to drink 

 and bathe ; in such places this species may often be 

 seen wading in the water, snapping at the insects 

 which hover around, or searching the bottom for 

 minute larvae; it has been observed also to take 

 minnows from a fountain. This bird generally selects 

 a hole in the side or at the top of a wall, especially 

 when overgrown with ivy, for a nesting-place ; but 

 I have known many instances in which the nest has 

 been placed on the ground, in thatch, rock-work, the 

 top of a water-pipe, a fagot-stack, and once or twice 

 in a large flower-vase in our garden ; I once only 

 found a nest of this bird in a bush, and believe that 

 such instances are very uncommon. The materials 

 used for the nest are moss, grass-stalks, and fine roots, 

 with a lining of hair ; the eggs are from four to six, 

 white, with a close sprinkling of grey. It is remark- 

 able that a bird so common as the Pied AVagtail is 

 in our Islands should be comparatively rare on the 

 continent of Europe, where its place is taken by a 

 very closely resembling race, the so-called AVhite 

 Wagtail [Motacilla alba)^ which is a tolerably common 

 vernal visitor to this country, and has been clearly 

 identified in Northamptonshire at least once by 

 Mr, W. J. Horn, near Kingsthorpe, on April 30, 

 1892, is recorded as having occurred several times 

 in Lincolnshire, and has been found nesting as near 

 to our borders as AVhittlesea. These two forms 

 are easily distinguishable in adult summer plumage, 

 but in winter and immature plumage may easily be 

 confounded. 



