i8o The Pied Wagtail. 



uiimber of boards had been piled up near a fence by the builder who owned the 

 ground, and when he wished to utilize them he discovered the nest built below 

 one which had been tilted up. I examined the nest and found that the young 

 were just ready to take, but hesitated to secure them, as my holiday was almost at 

 an end, and the duty of feeding would devolve upon my wife. I, therefore, crossed 

 the field and with a field-glass watched the parents arriving incessantly with food 

 for about an hour : they appeared to have an unusual amount of white on the neck, 

 and I took them at first for White Wagtails, but the young were certainly Pied. 



My wife having undertaken the duty of feeding during the day, I sent my 

 man for the nest in the evening, but it was empty, and a cat was seen slinking 

 away. Next morning, however, one young one shivering with cold and wheezing 

 badly, was discovered behind a board : under careful treatment it soon recovered, 

 and was reared without trouble upon crushed tea-biscuit, preserved yolk of egg, 

 ants' cocoons, and Abrahams' food for Insectivorous birds, mixed together and 

 moistened. We found this little Wagtail a very interesting pet : in the 

 summer we let him fly about the dining-room, where he delighted in playing the 

 game of hide-and-seek, keeping quite still until discovered, when he excitedly 

 shouted chizzic, chizzic, and ran out from his retreat : he was absolutely tame, fighting 

 with us after the manner of a Canary. When tired of flying about he always 

 returned to his cage of his own accord and jumped up to his perch. 



As a rule, and especially during the winter months, when we were afraid to let 

 " Chizzic " out, on account of fires, his cage was kept in my conservatory ; and, if 

 my wife went out there without stopping to have a fight, he shouted to her in a 

 most reproving tone : his excitement when she poked her finger through the bars 

 was ludicrous, he screamed with excitement and (although it is difficult to imagine 

 how a bird-face can be made to express glee) he undoubtedly appeared to laugh 

 much as one sees a dog do when playing. He was always ready to fight me, but 

 never showed the same madcap hilarity as with my wife. On several occasions 

 when my servant played with him, he half spread his wings, arched his back, 

 depressed his tail, and sang the true wild song to her : sometimes in the 

 spring he sang from his percli, but not often.* 



All insectivorous birds make more or less interesting pets when hand-reared ; 

 but none are so satisfactory as the Wagtails (doubtless the other species would be 

 quite as pleasing as the Pied) ; even when caught wild, most examples of iMofacilia 

 soon become tame if kindly treated : they are easy to feed, living for years upon 

 crumbled household bread, yolk of egg and ants' cocoons, moistened (either by the 



* Since I first described him, little "Chizzic" has passed away: even lo the last he tried to bear 

 up, making an effort to play at fighting when so weak that he staggered wildlv in his walk. 



