THE WAGTAILS. 31 



THE YELLOW WAGTAIL, 



(Motacilla flava.} 



PLATE II. FIGURE V. 



THIS bird is sometimes called Ray's Wagtail, (If. Rayi). It is not 

 quite so large as the Grey-headed species, and may be found in this 

 country for a short time only, generally arriving at the end of March 

 or beginning of April, and departing late in August or early in Sep- 

 tember. Generally near to streams and watery places, but sometimes 

 in fields and gardens, after a rainy spring when the plough has 

 turned up the moist earth, come the Wagtails, with other birds, to 

 feast upon the wriggling worms and other forms of insect life that 

 are brought to the surface; and it is a pretty sight to see them on 

 the garden lawn, which they sometimes visit, pursuing insects on the 

 wing, after the manner of Flycatchers. They have a graceful and 

 easy flight, and their appearance is very rich and striking, on ac- 

 count of the preponderance of yellow in their plumage; the forehead, 

 sides of the head, crown, neck and nape behind, chin, throat, and 

 breast are all of this colour, which is relieved by the brown and 

 greenish grey of the back. 



The length of the male is six inches and three quarters, it has a 

 long slightly rounded tail, and wings that extend to the width of 

 ten inches and a half. Its call is a shrill double note. 



The Oatseed Bird, or Oatear, is a name sometimes applied to this 

 species, not, as some naturalists tell us, because it feeds upon oats, or 

 any other corn, for it is wholly insectivorous, but because those ex- 

 tensive upland districts which it frequents are more favourable to the 

 growth of oats than to any other kind of grain, and because, more- 

 over, it resorts to those corn-fields on its first arrival in Britain. 



The nest of this bird is placed on the ground, or near it, pro- 

 bably on the stump of a tree, in which there is a sufficient hollow 

 to receive it; dry stalks and grass fibre compose it outwardly, within 

 it is lined with hair or other soft substance. One has been found 

 made of moss, with a few tufts of grass outside, and a little hair 

 within. The eggs, from four to six in number, are greenish or 



