THE WATER-WAGTAIL. 



This is a very active bird, and is constantly in mo- 

 tion, running after flies. It changes its abode in win- 

 ter, but does not quit the kingdom, and may be found, 

 as the weather becomes severe, in marshes subject to 

 the flow of the tide. Early in the spring, the pied wag- 

 tails, as they are sometimes called, may be seen in flocks 

 attending sheepfolds, and fields which have been newly 

 ploughed. In the breeding season they appear to pre- 

 fer pleasure-grounds constantly mown, where they can 

 run about entirely unencumbered, and when the insects 

 have not sufficient cover to evade their flight. 



The nest, composed of moss, dried grass, and fibres, 

 put together with wool, and lined with feathers or hair, 

 is found in a heap of stones on the ground, the hole 

 of a wall, or on the top of a pollard-tree : the hole of 

 a bank, or the shelf of a bare rock is sometimes chosen. 

 The eggs exactly resemble those of the cuckoo — a bird 

 which frequently chooses the nest of the wagtail as a 

 place for her own egg. 



