THE PIED WAGTAIL 203 



dangled by a string than a live thing ; and it 

 repeats these evolutions for a considerable time, 

 returning to the ground every few seconds. At 

 length it seems to have had enough of this kind 

 of food, and so flies away, gradually rising up 

 until it reaches a certain height and is soon lost 

 sight of in the sky. 



In a quiet seaside town where I am now writing, 

 several Pied Wagtails frequent the gardens on 

 each day. Quite lately I have been watching 

 these from a distance of a few yards, while they 

 were feeding on a lawn amongst several Starlings, 

 which they did not seem to fear in any degree, 

 although the Starlings appeared to be very quar- 

 relsome among themselves. 



When the tide recedes it leaves a fringe of 

 seaweed at high-water mark, and the Pied Wag- 

 tails can be seen searching among this almost any 

 day. With a field-glass I have watched for them ; 

 but at first could not discover the whereabouts of 

 a bird, although the cry of tiz-it seemed to come 

 from a different direction each time that it was 

 uttered. At last I discovered one to be sitting 

 on a small projection of chalk a few yards up the 

 cliff, where it was amusing itself by trying to sing. 

 There is not much music in its song, given as it is 

 in a jerky manner ; and the call-note tiz-it seems 



