136 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 



was occupied by braziers, and the noise produced 

 by the men was loud and incessant. The nest was 

 built near the wheel of a lathe, which revolved 

 within a foot of it. In this strange situation the 

 bird hatched four young ones; but the male, not 

 having accustomed himself to such company, instead 

 of feeding the nestlings himself, as is usual, carried 

 such food as he collected to a certain spot on the 

 roof, where he left it, and from whence it was borne 

 by his mate to the young." Another curious place 

 is mentioned in the ' Zoologist' for 1863, namely, a 

 Swallow's nest, the Swallows themselves not being 

 allowed even to build another nest in the same 

 chimney. 



The plumage of the Pied Wagtail varies much 

 according to the age of the bird and the time of the 

 year. The adult bird in spring has the beak almost 

 black; irides black; forehead, cheeks, ear-coverts 

 and sides of the neck white ; top of the head, nape, 

 back, scapulars and tail-coverts black; the lesser 

 wing-coverts black, tipped with white ; greater wing- 

 coverts broadly edged and tipped with white ; quills 

 black, narrowly margined with white, the tertials 

 broadly so; the outside tail-feathers on each side 

 white, the rest black ; throat and breast black ; the 

 rest of the under parts white ; legs, toes and claws 

 black. The adult female at this time of the year is 

 much the same in plumage, except that the black on 

 the back is not so pure, being slightly mixed with 



