Il8 OUR SUMMER MIGRANTS. 



division less necessary or desirable than it may 

 originally have appeared to be. In outward 

 form, internal structure, and habits, they are all 

 Wagtails, and one generic term for the whole 

 has, at all events, the merit of simplicity. 



The Yellow Wagtail, whose plumage in the 

 breeding season equals in brightness that of the 

 Canary, is one of the most attractive of all our 

 summer migrants. When running over the 

 pastures and fields of sprouting wheat, the olive- 

 green colour of the dorsal plumage renders it 

 very inconspicuous, but when perched upon 

 some rail, or clod upon the bare fallow, the bright 

 yellow of the under-parts contrasts vividly with 

 the duller surroundings, and at once attracts the 

 attention of the passer-by. Its favourite haunts 

 are the marshes and water-meadows where 

 cattle are pastured. Here it finds plenty of 

 food amongst the insects which are disturbed 

 by the grazing kine, and the numerous small 



and thin-shelled mollusca which abound in such 



i 

 situations. 



When the nest has to be constructed and it 



