WAGTAILS AND PIPITS 1605 



lenge to combat. During its migrations the gray wagtail visits many low-lying 

 districts far remote from its haunts by rocky rivers, occurring near London every 

 winter. This wagtail bears confinement well, and has been known to pair with the 

 pied wagtail in captivity and produce hybrid young. The adult male in summer 

 has the crown and upper parts slaty gray, the upper tail coverts greenish yellow, a 

 white stripe passing above the eye and another beneath the lore; the chin and throat 

 are black, and the lower parts bright yellow. In winter the chin and throat are dirty 

 white, the breast dull buff, and the under parts grayish white tinged with yellow. 



One of the prettiest of all the wagtails is the blue-headed species 

 e (Af. flava), well known in most parts of Europe, though but a chance 



'Summer visitor to the British Islands. In Holland, on the other hana, the 

 present species is of general distribution, though most numerous on the banks of streams 

 and in the neighborhood of morasses. Its flight is swift, graceful, and undulating, 

 often accompanied by a cheery call note which can be heard at a considerable dis- 

 tance. Sometimes it frequents gravelly islets like the gray wagtail, but this is 

 rather the exception than the rule, since the bird prefers the environs of sluggish 

 rivers and the banks of canals to more rapid streams. The blue-headed wagtail 

 nests in meadow lands, generally in a tuft of grass or a tussock of rushes, but some- 

 times a number of pairs nest together in a single field. The nest is built of dry 

 stems of grass and scraps of moss, lined with fine bents and hair; the eggs being 

 yellowish white in ground color, mottled and clouded with pale brown. When the 

 eggs are hatched, the old birds wait eagerly upon their offspring, continuing to 

 watch over their safety long after they are fledged. These birds are exceedingly 

 fond of the neighborhood of horses, running in and out between the feet of the ani- 

 mals with singular unconcern. The adult male has the upper parts yellowish green; 

 the forehead, crown, and lores a beautiful slaty blue, set off to great advantage by 

 the white eye stripe; the under parts being pure yellow. The female has the crown 

 of the head greenish brown instead of blue, and the eye stripe is less pure; the under 

 parts being of a duller yellow. A figure of this bird is given on the left side of the 

 cut on p. 1606. 



The European wagtails are replaced as familiar birds in South 

 Cape Wagtail 



Africa by several allied species, of which the best known is the Cape 



wagtail (M. capensis). Frequenting the crowded cities no less than the outlying 

 farmhouses, this wagtail is everywhere protected, in recognition of its charming 

 ways. Like their European cousins, these birds consort much with cattle, for the 

 sake of the small flies found about those animals; and they also frequent the sea- 

 beach to procure the flies bred in the putrefying seaweed. The nest is generally 

 constructed in the side of a bank, or a crevice of a stone wall; it is cup shaped and 

 constructed of dry grass lined with cows' hair and fur. Sometimes it is built under 

 some projecting stone or overhanging root on the bank of a stream. The eggs are 

 brownish cream color, freckled with brown. The Cape wagtail has the dipping 

 flight peculiar to the genus, and like other wagtails is fond of seeking its food on 

 the margins of muddy streams, and it has a pretty song, which however is seldom 

 uttered. Sometimes it is seen in flocks, especially when the birds are gathering to 

 roost in some favorite tree; at other times it lives chiefly in pairs, preying upon 



