YELLOW-BREASTED BIRDS. 115 



always to be seen, are distinguished by a walking 

 or quickly running gait, a sudden tacking to right 

 and left, an almost incessant up-and-down wagging 

 of its tail while pausing, and quick springs into the 

 air to take a passing insect on the wing. The tail 

 is almost as long as the whole body of the bird, and 

 the dark central feathers and white outer ones are 

 very conspicuous during flight. With the exception 

 of the Gray Wagtail, the Yellow Wagtail is the 

 only yellow - breasted British breeding bird that 

 walks. 



GRAY WAGTAIL— 7i inches ; head and back blue-gray ; 

 eye-stripe and moustachial stripe white ; throat black ; 

 upper tail-coverts and under parts bright yellow ; wings 

 blackish-brown, with lighter edges ; tail black, but 

 outer feathers white. 



PIED WAGTAIL, WHITE WAGTAIL.— These birds, 

 closely resembling the Yellow Wagtail in form, gestures, 

 and habits, are black, Avhite, and gray in plumage, and 

 lack the conspicuous yellow under parts. 



GREENFINCH. — Plate 52. Length, 6 inches. 

 Olive-green above on head, neck, and back ; yellow 

 towards the tail ; a stripe over the eye and the 

 under parts generally also yellow ; wings dark, with 

 a large patch of yellow overlying the sides of the 

 body ; tail also dark, with the basal portion of all 

 but the central feathers yellow ; bill conical, flesh- 

 coloured. Female : altogether a browner bird, lacking 

 the bright-yellow markings of the male bix-d, especially 

 the yellow at the base of the tail. Resident. 



Eggs. — 4-6, bluish-white, blotched and speckled 

 "^ith orange -brown or dark brown, or both, and 



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