544- 



MOTACILLA. WAGTAIL. 



Generic Character. 



Rostrum gracile, cylindri- 

 cum, rectum, apice sub- 

 emarginatum. 



Cauda elongata. 



Pedes simplices, digitis tribus 

 anticis, uno postico: un- 

 guis posticus longior. 



Beak slender, cylindrical, 

 straight, and slightly notch- 

 ed at the tip. 



Tail elongated. 



Feet simple, with three toes 

 before, and one behind : 

 the hinder claw rather long. 



rr^ 



JL HE Wagtails are principally confined to the 

 continents of Europe and Asia, where many of the 

 species are very numerous : they do not hop, like 

 the generality of small birds, but run nimbly along 

 the ground, and are easily distinguished by their 

 lively motions, and by the continual jerking up 

 and down of their long tails. 



They frequent the borders of pools and rivulets, 

 picking up the worms and insects that inhabit 

 those places : for the most part they have a weak 

 and vacillating flight, during which they make a 

 twittering noise : they seldom perch, and they 

 mostly construct their nests on, or very near, the 

 ground. 



