THE HOMECOMERS 89 



hold it on its way to other very similar places 

 where redstarts were hatched last year. 



More beautiful than the redstart, in a quiet and 

 artistic way, is this one that I know I can show 

 you to-day by the old mill. It always lingers 

 there at least a week, as though it could not 

 quite make up its mind to leave so beautiful a 

 spot for another not more suited to its artistic 

 and material requirements. 



There it is on the cart shed, a slim bird mainly 

 in yellow, but with a black ' chest protector ' and 

 grey head and back. It flies off with the tell-tale 

 ' chizzick ' of the wagtail, and we can find it 

 again running with inimitable grace on the wet 

 stones of the brook. Its real home is in such 

 places as Tor's Steps on the Barle in Exmoor, or 

 by Bolton Abbey in Wharfedale, and I never 

 see it pass through our parish on its spring 

 migration without thinking of one of those 

 beautiful stickles in June when the grey wagtail 

 runs over the brown stones and in and out of 

 the cool water after caddis grubs and stone-fly 

 larvae. 



The grey wagtail is not truly a migrant. Indeed, 

 it seems to move rather northward than southward 

 in winter. The pied wagtail, on the other hand, 

 moves southward, but still within our country. 

 The place of its nesting is vacant for the most part 

 during the winter, and we welcome it back as one 

 of the harbingers of spring. It is very nice to have 

 this dainty bird again, running along the house 



