i3« RURAL BIRD LIFE, 



alight some little distance away as before. But we have 

 had time to notice it, and by its black and white plumage 

 and peculiar motions we know at once it is the Pied 

 Wagtail, a bird so commonly met with in almost every 

 pasture field, on the country roads, or by the banks of 

 the streamlets, rivers, ponds, and lakes. 



Though the Pied Wagtail may justly be called a mi- 

 gratory species, for in October they congregate in parties 

 and small flocks and wing their way southward, still a few 

 remain permanently with us throughout the year. In the 

 late autumn days we see them following the plough ; 

 while in the depth of winter we occasionally see one or 

 two on the manure heaps searching for small beetles, or 

 hear their cheery notes as they fly through the air in 

 search of some oasis in the snowy waste affording them 

 food and shelter. They return, however, to their old 

 haunts very early in the season. By the third week in 

 March, and long before the Swallow or the Blackcap 

 arrives, we see them, still in flocks, upon the newly 

 ploughed land, exceedingly tame, and daintily running 

 up the newly-turned furrows, gracefully fanning their 

 tails, and uttering their sharp peculiar call notes. Thus 

 we see the Wagtail, besides being a migratory species, is 

 also partially gregarious — a habit common to but very 

 few of the soft-billed choristers. 



But as spring time arrives the Wagtails separate into 

 pairs, and spread themselves here and there in suitable 

 localities, frequenting them throughout the summer. 

 The Pied Wagtail pairs annually, and thus seeks out a 

 fresh nesting-site every successive year ; but though 

 paired so early, spring is merging into summer ere we 

 find their nest. In the matter of nesting the Wagtail 

 is a strictly terrestrial bird, its nest being always on the 

 ground, or in crevices of rocks and walls. Sometimes it 



