i82 The White Wagtail. 



wing-coverts ; the white ou the cheeks and sides of neck extended, so as completely 

 to disunite the black of the crown and nape from that of the throat and breast ; 

 the tail also is said to be longer, but this is certainly a variable character. The 

 female is rather duller than the male, and generally has the throat nearly white, 

 but sometimes with darkish brown feathers, especially at the sides ; she also shows 

 no black on the nape and back, as in the Pied Wagtail. 



It is evident that the White Wagtail is not aware of the importance of the 

 above distinctions, inasmuch as there are certainly two instances known of its 

 pairing with the Pied species in a wild state, one of these being represented by 

 the nest exhibited with old birds and young at the Natural History Museum, 

 obtained in Norfolk by Lord Walsingham. 



Mr. Frohawk and I saw a fine example of this species in Kent, but we failed 

 to secure the specimen : it would have been very useful for the present work. 



Several instances are on record of the " Water Wagtail " (which might mean 

 either the Pied or the White Wagtail) making its nest under a railway truck, 

 between the axle-box and axle-guard. In one such instance (described in the 

 "Zoologist" for January, 1893, p. 30) the nest was discovered in November with 

 " two eggs, one quite warm, having been recently laid." It does not, however, 

 follow that, because a bird continues to roost ou a nest containing unhatched 

 eggs, the latter are necessarily recently deposited. I have known many birds in 

 captivity to retire to their old nests when the}- have felt unwell, or in cold 

 weather, and it is quite likely that they also do the same when at liberty. 



