YELLOW-BREASTED BIRDS. 



GRAY WAGTAIL.— Plate 51. Length, 7^ inches, 

 of which the tail alone is 3i inches. Head and 

 neck blue-gray ; above insertion of tail, and the 

 under parts generally, bright yellow ; throat black, 

 with a white moustachial streak on each side ; 

 stripe over the eye also white ; wings blackish- 

 brown, with lighter edges ; central tail-feathers black, 

 but the outer ones white. Resident. 



Eggs. — 5-6, grayish-white, softly mottled all over 

 with dull yellowish-brown, sometimes having a few 

 black hair-lines at the larger end; "75 x "55 inch 

 (plate 126). 



Nest. — Of dry grass, fine root-fibres, and moss, 

 lined with haii', and placed in some recess in broken 

 ground, in a cleft of a rock, or the interstices of stone 

 walls, and similar spots, never far from M'ater. 



Distribution. — General, but somewhat rare in 

 south-east England and the extreme north of Scot- 

 land. 



There is an obvious connection between the facts 

 that this bird is local in its distribution, nests prin- 

 cipally by upland streams, breeds earlier than its 

 congeners, and, although partially a migrant, remains 

 in some numbers throughout the winter in certain 

 parts of England. Those who would see it in its 

 summer haunts must look for it on the banks of hill 

 streams ; but it may be observed as a passenger in 



