THE GREY WAGTAIL 
lands to the hills that the Grey Wagtail visits the London 
waters. Its habits are very similar to those of the Pied 
Wagtail. It runs in the same easy, graceful way, accom- 
panies its movements with the same beats of the long tail, 
has the same peculiar dipping flight and a similar call-note 
during its progress, feeds on insects, larvae, small worms, 
and seeds, and young and parents keep in parties for long 
after the former can forage for themselves. Its song is 
fitful, but of the same twittering character, and the bird 
frequently perches in trees. It may rear more than one 
brood in the year, as eggs are found from April to June. 
The nest is never made far from the waterside, under an 
overhanging rock or bank or stone, or among tall grass 
and weeds, sometimes an old stump. It is made of dry 
grass, roots, and moss, lined with hair and sometimes 
feathers. The four or five eggs are white, more or less 
tinged with grey or buff, mottled and speckled with pale 
brown, and occasionally scratched with dark brown. 
The adult male Grey Wagtail in summer has the upper 
parts slate-grey, shading into greenish yellow on the rump 
and upper tail-coverts; a white stripe extends from the 
base of the bill behind the eye ; the wings are dark brown, 
with pale margins, the secondaries with the basal half 
white. The central tail-feathers are brownish black, with 
yellowish margins; the two outer ones are white, the 
succeeding pair white on the inner web, most of the re- 
maining portion dull black. A narrow white line extends 
from the base of the bill down the sides of the throat and 
upper breast, which are black, and the remaining under 
parts are bright yellow. Bill black; tarsiand toes brown ; 
irides brown. Length 63 inches. The female closely 
resembles the male in colour, but the black throat 1s 
mixed with grey. The nestling closely resembles the 
adult in autumn plumage, in which the black throat 1s 
replaced by white. 
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