GREY WAGTAIL. 171 



move into more retired situations to breed, and are then 

 supposed to have migrated. 



They are solitary birds, a pair being the number ordinarily 

 seen together. Instances have been known of their coming 

 to windows like the other species, but whether to look at 

 themselves as in what in Yorkshire is called a 'seeing glass,' 

 or for some other reason, is a matter about which we are in 

 entire ignorance. In severe weather they naturally become 

 more tame than at other times; one has been known, of all 

 places, to enter a museum. 



The flight of this Wagtail exhibits the same airy lightness 

 that characterizes the rest of its family. On a sudden it bounds 

 away in an undulating sweep, if alarmed, to a distance, but 

 otherwise, probably, it soon drops again: then it runs with 

 rapid steps along the margin of the 'glassy, clear, translucent 

 lake,' as 'fair' in the eye of the ornithologist, as 'Sabrina' 

 herself, or glides on the bank of the winding river, the still 

 pool, or the running brook; into which at times it wades, or 

 alights on some extant weeds, or bank of apparently treacherous 

 mud, or quicksand, on which its light feet scarce leave a 

 faint impression. On first alighting, the side feathers of the 

 tail are conspicuously expanded. These birds, like the others, 

 are fond of running along the ridge of a house top, probably 

 in pursuit or quest of insects. They perch occasionally on 

 trees, especially when first alarmed. 



Their food consists of insects and minute shell-fish. The 

 former they capture both by running and flying after them. 



The note is rather shrill, but feeble. 



Two broods are produced in the year; the first of which is 

 generally fledged by the end of May, the latter in July, and 

 these consort with their parents till late in autumn. 



The nest is generally placed on the ground, among grass 

 or stones, in the hollow of a bank or rock, usually near 

 the borders of a stream; but not always, for it has sometimes 

 been met with at a distance from water. One pair has been 

 known to build in a spout, and the following year on a shelf 

 in an outhouse, to which a broken pane of glass gave them 

 ingress; and again, on the window sill of a dairy, near the 

 previous one. Another pair built their nest between the 

 'switches' of a railway, within two or three inches of every 

 train that passed. It is formed of small fibres and roots, 

 moss and grass, and is lined with wool, hair, or feathers. 



The eggs are from five to six, or even eight in number, 



