THE WAGTAILS 



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1. The white wagtail. 



2. The pied wagtail. 



3. The gray wagtail. 



4. The blue-headed yellow wagtail. 



5. The gray-headed yellow wagtail. 



6. The yellow wagtail. 



Of these six birds, three only i.e., the pied, 

 the gray, and the yellow are common. The 

 white and the pied are so very similar as to be 

 often mistaken for each other ; the white is, 

 however, the far less common of the two. Both 

 are with us from the spring to the autumn, 

 the pied frequently remaining throughout the 

 entire year. The chief distinction between these 

 two varieties consists in the colour of the back, 

 which in the pied wagtail is black, whereas in 

 the white it is of an ash-coloured gray. The 

 back of the female of the pied in spring is also of 

 an ashy gray, but mingled with a few blackish 

 feathers. 



For some years past one or two pairs of 

 pied wagtails have bred in my garden, and 

 reared their young ones with more or less suc- 

 cess. Last summer I was distressed at finding 

 a whole brood of them had been destroyed 

 by one of our village cats. The bereaved 

 parents had been indefatigable in their efforts 

 to supply their offspring with food, and it was a 

 great pleasure to me to watch them popping about 

 the lawn. After this catastrophe they disappeared 



