132 THE BIRDS OF OUR RAMBLES. 



see the cock-birds rise into the air for a little 

 way and warble their song, or even whilst sitting 

 on a stone or in the branches of trees they may 

 be heard to do so. Small worms, insects and 

 their larvae, and tiny seeds, are the Pied Wag- 

 tail's food. The nest of this bird is made in 

 a variety of situations, although always on the 

 ground, or in crevices of walls and rocks, never 

 in the branches. A favourite place is under a 

 stone, in a dry drain-pipe, or beneath a tile in 

 the brick-fields. The nest is made of dry grass, 

 moss, and rootlets, and lined with hair, wool, and 

 feathers. The eggs are four or five, very pale blue 

 in ground colour, speckled and spotted with 

 different shades of grayish brown. The Cuckoo 

 often selects the nest of this bird in which to 

 place her alien egg. The young are fed for 

 some time after leaving the nest, generally doing 

 so before they are able to fly. This habit of 

 tending the young after they have left the nest 

 is peculiar to all the species usually selected by 

 the Cuckoo, which is a wise proceeding on the 

 part of that species, for were the foster parents 

 in the habit of abandoning their young at once, 

 the young Cuckoo would invariably be left to 

 starve. 



By the side of the slowly flowing streams, and 

 on e banks f canals and ponds, the REED 

 BUNTING (Emberiza schcenichis), also has its resi- 

 dence. You may identify him by his black head 

 and throat, white cheeks and collar, and chestnut 

 and black upper parts. The female is not so 

 conspicuous, wanting the black head and throat 

 and white collar, these parts being reddish brown. 

 Like the Pied Wagtail this bird may often be 



