86 THE WAG-TAIL 



Elle couit sur le sable 

 Elle s'envole, semblable 



All cit'sir 

 Qui toujours nous devance 

 Et qui fuit des qu'on pense 



Le saisir... 



(« Like a capel-master, the beautiful bird, in black 

 and white garb, seems to be marking the rythm of the mill 

 and the motion of the beetles of the washerwomen. 



It runs on the gravel, it takes its flight onward and 

 upward ; like our wishes, it flies off as soon as we hope to 

 seize it. ») 



The grey and yellow wag-tails have more pastoral 

 habits. « The wag-tail, which lives on flies, » says old 

 Belon, (( loves to follow cattle, knowing that it will find 

 food, and it is perhaps for that reason that w^e have called 

 it c; Bergerette » (Shepherdess). It is more sedentary in 

 its tastes than the dish-washer and does not leave us 

 even in the bad season. In winter, it gets nearer to vil- 

 lages, seeks shelter near the banks of ponds which freeze 

 only rarely, and there, in spite of cold, it sings a low, 

 soft, discreet strain. As soon as the month of March 

 brings back the season of field labour and sowing, you can 

 see the wag-tail following the labourer who is pushing 

 his plough, or perching on mounds of fresh soil where 

 it is sure to find an ample provision of worms. 



In April it begins to build its nest in the fields or 

 sometimes in the roots of some tree on the banks of a 



