120 THE BIRDS OF OUR RAMBLES. 



April weather its short and fitful song may be 

 heard as the bird flutters into the air. It is often 

 seen first upon some rock or stone in the centre 

 of the torrent, beating its long tail up and down 

 as it poises on the wet, slippery surface ; and when 

 alarmed it speeds away in dipping flight to 

 another stone further up the stream, uttering its 

 shrill ckiz-zit as it goes. Another peculiarity of 

 the Gray Wagtail is its partiality for trees. It 

 perches more freely than any other bird in this 

 group, and may often be seen running along the 

 broad horizontal limbs as quickly as on the ground. 

 It feeds on insects, especially small flies and 

 beetles, and in winter often picks up small seeds. 

 All the Wagtails are examples of agile grace, but 

 the present species especially so. Nothing can 

 be more daintily graceful than the way it trips 

 along the mud and sand by the waterside, or 

 wades through the shallows, now and then standing 

 in them to wash and preen its plumage. The 

 nest of the Gray Wagtail can be sought for with 

 greatest certainty of success during the month of 

 May. It is rarely built far from the stream, and 

 is often placed under a jutting rock, or a flat 

 stone lying amongst the tangled vegetation on 

 the bank. It is made of dry grass and rootlets, 

 and lined with finer roots, hair, or feathers. The 

 five or six eggs are greenish or yellowish brown, 

 mottled and spotted with darker brown, and some- 

 times a few nearly black streaks occur, as if 

 scratched on with a pen. The young and their 

 parents keep together for some time after the 

 former leave the nest. When severe weather 

 comes the Gray Wagtails desert the upland 

 streams, and during winter may be met with 



