74 THE BIRDS OF OUR RAMBLES. 



be noticed in the corn-fields eating the soft milky 

 grain. The southern migration of this bird begins 

 in September, and is continued into October. 



We will now leave the hay meadows for a 

 little time to glance at the actions and nesting 

 Principally economy of the YELLOW WAGTAIL (Motacilla rail), 

 t^pS lsh a bird of the pastures and the fields that are being 

 ern ' tilled for grain and root crops. The bright yellow 

 head and underparts, and the olive-green upper 

 parts, of this pretty bird will readily serve to dis- 

 tinguish it from its congeners ; besides, it is the 

 Wagtail of the fields, and least frequently seen by 

 the waterside of all. Although it must be classed 

 as a summer visitor to our shores, the impulse 

 or the inclination to migrate in autumn is not so 

 universal in this species, and odd birds may be 

 met with all the winter through. It is also one of 

 the earliest birds to return, making its appearance 

 in the wake of the plough as soon as the weather 

 is sufficiently open for the work of the fields 

 to progress. Although not exactly gregarious, 

 numbers of these birds may be seen together 

 upon the same ploughed land in March. Very 

 neat and pretty they look, as they run along the 

 newly-turned furrows, and up and down over the 

 clods of earth, searching everywhere for food. 

 So tame and confiding, too, tripping round the 

 ploughman's heels, and following him from one 

 end of the field to the other, occasionally taking 

 short undulating flights, rising with a shrill chiz- 

 zit, and dropping again a little farther on, beating 

 the tail quickly up and down as they alight. Soon 

 these gatherings become smaller, as the birds 

 distribute themselves over the fields. Their 

 favourite summer haunts are now the pastures ; 



