110 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



fNSESSOEES. MOTACILLID.fi. 



DENTIROSTRES. 



THE PIED WAGTAIL. 



MOT AC ILL A Y A REEL LI I. 



Breac-an-t'-sil. 



THIS active and sprightly bird is very common in most districts 

 throughout the year, although many hundreds appear to migrate 

 southwards about the close of autumn. That such a movement 

 takes place is evident to any one living near the confluence of any 

 of our larger rivers with the sea, as large numbers which have 

 followed their course from the interior are yearly seen gathered 

 together in the estuaries, where they remain a few days before 

 resuming their journey along the coast-line. Immense numbers of 

 Pied Wagtails are in this way observed travelling down the river 

 Clyde at Glasgow. In September and October I have seen as 

 many as three or four hundred assembled on the timber rafts 

 floating between the two principal bridges spanning the river in the 

 heart of the city. After reaching the sea, they betake themselves 

 to the nearest fields for a day or two, but not far from the beach, 

 where on mild days they pick up a slender living among the 

 mounds of dried sea-weed. The same habit is noticeable on the 

 smaller streams, as, for instance, on the water of Girvan, in Ayr- 

 shire, where flocks have been observed regularly for many years 

 past roosting in the alder bushes growing on its banks previous 

 to their final departure. In both localities small parties drop off 

 the main body and remain throughout the winter, those in Glasgow 

 resorting to the farms and villages in the outskirts, where they soon 

 become almost unrecognisable from the soiled state of their 

 plumage through dirt and smoke. I have often stood in wonder 

 looking at as many as half-a-dozen at a time running about the 

 suburban roads, or sitting with downcast tails on barren cinder 

 heaps within sound of a thousand hammers. These dingy speci- 

 mens living within the city boundaries are not invested with a 

 single white feather, back and breast being precisely of the 

 same hue. 



In localities on the mainland lying to the north of the central 



