PIED WAGTAIL. 115 



in the year. The Cuckoo very often "selects this 

 bird's nest for its nursery." Mr. Yarrell says : " The 

 egg of the Cuckoo is more frequently deposited and 

 hatched in the nest of the Meadow Pipit than in that of 

 any other bird." Why we do not know; but wonderful, 

 indeed, is the attachment evinced by the Meadow Pipit 

 for its strange foster-child. " I know of few things," 

 says Mr. Stevenson, in his Birds of Norfolk, " more 

 ridiculous than the great baby Cuckoo helplessly 

 flapping his wings and opening his mouth, as he sits on 

 a bush or railing to receive unnumbered delicacies from 

 the beak of his foster-parent." 



There is no satisfactory evidence of the occurrence of 

 the Tree Pipit in Ireland. This is to be regretted, as it 

 is a very pleasing songster, and greatly enlivens the 

 woods in England and Wales, where I have heard it in 

 the Gloddaeth Woods, near Llandudno. 



PIED WAGTAIL. 



Motacilla lugubris ; Bergeronnette grise ; Bachstelze. 

 Willy Wagtail ; Dish-washer. 



Beak, black ; forehead, ear-coverts, cheeks, and portion 

 of neck, white ; crown of the head, nape of the neck, 

 back, and upper tail-coverts, black ; tail, black, but the 

 two outer feathers are white, with a black edge ; chin, 

 throat, and neck, black ; breast, white ; legs, toes, and 

 claws, black. 



The plumage is darker in spring than in winter. 

 Length, about seven and a half inches. 



