any other British species of Wagtail, and, especially in spring, its monotonous 

 call-note is heard incessantly from the trees overhanging the rivers. After the 

 young are reared the birds gradually follow the streams to warmer quarters, 

 and, during winter, are often observed in the neighbourhood of the seacoast. 



The nest of the Grey Wagtail is almost always found under some over- 

 hanging ledge of rock or bank, and is usually concealed behind a tuft of 

 grass or bunch of ferns, but I have seen it on the ground at the foot of a tree 

 in much the same situation as a Robin would have taken. In Perthshire I 

 remember a sluice at the foot of a loch, where the head of the lifting screw 

 was protected by a wooden box ; in this box a Grey Wagtail built its nest year 

 after year, entering by a small hole left to admit the handle for raising the 

 sluice. One year I went to look at the nest and found the poor bird suspended 

 by a horse-hair from the box, quite dead ; she had become entangled in it on 

 leaving the nest, and had choked herself in her struggles to get free. The 

 Grey Wagtail seems to have a great attachment for its breeding-place, and 

 the nest will be found year after year in the same place on the ledge, if the 

 birds be left undisturbed. 



The nest of the Grey Wagtail is very like that of the Pied Wagtail. It 

 is usually a little smaller inside, and is perhaps even more carefully built; 

 the outside is composed almost entirely of fine roots with a few dry stalks 

 of grass woven into it. The lining is usually cow-hair, but horse-hair is 

 sometimes used. I have never seen any feathers in the lining, although several 

 ornithologists mention these as helping in the construction. 



The Grey Wagtail is an early breeder, and I have taken eggs in the first 

 week of April which were by no means fresh laid ; the end of the month is, 

 however, the most favoured time. Five is the usual clutch, though six eggs 

 are occasionally found. They are of two distinct types a greyish type and a 

 buffish one. The grey type has the ground-colour a pale French grey, mottled 

 with light brown ; the other type has a rich cream-coloured ground, speckled 

 and mottled with rich brown and a few small yellowish markings. On many 

 specimens there are a few very dark brown streaks on the larger end. The 

 eggs vary in length from 79 to '68 inch, and in breadth from '59 to -54 inch. 



Both birds assist in the duties of incubation, and two broods are often 

 reared in the year. 



I 12 



