PLUMAGE. 83 



assume the summer garb at so early a period 

 as their travelled brethren ; indeed, on the arrival 

 of the latter, which have already attained the full 

 nuptial plumage, the former have but partially 

 commenced the change, only a few black patches 

 beginning to show on the throat, and the light 

 gray of the back being varied with occasional fea- 

 thers of a darker hue. In about a fortnight 

 afterwards this process is complete, and at the ex- 

 piration of that time the pied wagtails which have 

 arrived from the continent, and those which have 

 sojourned in England during the winter, present 

 the same appearance. 



After remaining in the neighbourhood of the 

 coast for a few days, these birds proceed inland in 

 a northerly direction ; and any practical observer 

 in the interior of the county may perceive how 

 much their numbers increase at this period. 

 There is scarcely a pool, road-side ditch, or 

 village horse-pond, where they may not be seen in 

 pairs, and this in districts where, but a week 

 before, the species was thinly distributed. 



Pied wagtails moult soon, about the end of 

 July or early in August. The black feathers gra- 

 dually disappear from the throat in both sexes, 

 and the dorsal plumage becomes of a lighter 

 colour in each ; the back of the male being 

 scarcely darker than that of the female during the 



