GREY WAGTAIL. 433 



generally made in September and April. It is even rather 

 more an aquatic bird than our Pied Wagtail, being seldom 

 seen except about marshes and water meadows, or on the 

 banks or sides of streams. In such situations, and some- 

 what solitary in their habits, a pair of Grey Wagtails may 

 be seen, shifting from place to place with undulating flight, 

 or running with rapid steps along the margin of, and some- 

 times wading in, the shallow water in search of various 

 insects, and are known to avail themselves of one very 

 numerous species of fresh-water bivalve, Cyclas cornea of 

 Dr. Turton, as food. These birds have been also observed 

 to run upon the tops of the weeds, which are partly sub- 

 merged in the ditches, and probably feed upon the various 

 species of water-beetles, Dyticus and Gyrinus, which are 

 almost always to be found in those situations. 



The nest of this bird is placed on the ground, seldom 

 very distant from the stream it frequents, and generally 

 on some rugged part of its banks, the inequalities of the 

 ground affording concealment. The structure of the nest 

 is similar to that of the Pied Wagtail, being formed of 

 fibrous roots and moss, lined with wool, hair, or feathers. 

 The eggs are from five to six in number, yellowish white, 

 mottled with pale brown, varying sometimes in the depth of 

 the tint ; the eggs are about eight lines and a half in length, 

 and seven lines in breadth. Mr. Selby has observed that 

 these birds produce two broods in the season, the first of 

 which is generally fledged by the end of May. The young 

 birds, till late in autumn, may be frequently seen in com- 

 pany with their parents. 



In the counties around London, the Grey Wagtail is a 

 winter visitor ; but Mr. Blyth has recorded that he " once 

 observed a pair of them upon Penge Common, in Surrey, 

 at the end of May, that evidently had a nest in the neigh- 

 bourhood, though he was unsuccessful in his repeated 



VOL. I. F F 



