430 PERCHING BIRDS. 



dusky black, edged with greyish white ; the tail black and white ; the chin and 

 throat black ; and the lower-parts pure white. 

 Yellow-Headed The yellow-headed wagtail (M. citreola) is a native of Siberia 



Wagtails. anc [ Eastern Russia, wintering in most parts of the Indian Empire, 

 and apparently finding its westward summer limits in the valleys of the Petchora 

 and Volga. It breeds in Kashmir, where the nests are placed under clods in the 

 ploughed fields. The proper home of this beautiful bird is, however, amongst the 

 dreary tundras of the far north ; Mr. Seebohm having observed it perching on 

 alder-bushes in the neighbourhood of flooded land on the banks of the Petchora. 

 There it breeds in June, and its habits resemble those of other yellow wagtails, its 

 light dainty form assimilating closely to that of the blue -headed and yellow 

 wagtails. The adult male in summer has the*entire head and neck deep yellow, as 

 are the under-parts ; the upper plumage being ashy grey tinged with bluish. 



The species which haunts the streams and mountain torrents of 

 Central Europe is the grey wagtail (M. melanope). A common 

 summer visitant and partial resident in the British Isles, shunning the neighbourhood 

 of sluggish, turbid rivers, and delighting in tiny cascades and rippling waterfalls, 

 the grey wagtail is fond of wading daintily in the shallows of a stream, and 

 running over the rocks rising out of the bed. Never found at any distance from 

 water, the nest is placed in a variety of situations, often in the recesses of some 

 loose stone wall, or mossy shelf of rock overhanging running water ; while a hole 

 in a wooden bridge is occasionally selected. Nesting year after year in the same 

 place, the grey wagtail is a very early breeder, full complements of eggs being laid 

 early in April ; and it breeds twice in a season, the second brood being generally 

 fully fledged about the middle of July. The nest is built of dry stems of grass 

 and a few roots, usually lined with horsehair ; six eggs being laid in a clutch, 

 which are white in ground-colour, suffused with pale brown or olive. The grey 

 wagtail has a pretty little song, often uttered from the top of some willow or other 

 riverside tree ; the males are very jealous, each choosing his own territory from 

 which every intruder is ousted. Even when the first broods of young are already 

 fledged, and actively searching for food in company with their parents, the old 

 cocks are always on their guard against the possible intrusion of a stranger, whose 

 approach is invariably heralded with a challenge to combat. During its migrations 

 the grey wagtail visits many low-lying districts far remote from its haunts by 

 rocky rivers, occurring near London every winter. This wagtail bears confinement 

 well, and has been known to pair with the pied wagtail in captivity and produce 

 hybrid young. The adult male in summer has the crown and upper-parts slaty 

 grey, the upper tail-coverts greenish yellow, a white stripe passing above the eye 

 and another beneath the lore ; the chin and throat are black, and the lower-parts 

 bright yellow. In winter the chin and throat are dirty white, the breast dull buff, 

 and the under-parts greyish white tinged with yellow. 

 Blue-Headed One of the prettiest of all the wagtails is the blue-headed species 



wagtails. (jjf fl ava ^ we n known in most parts of Europe, though but a chance 

 summer visitor to the British Islands. In Holland, on the other hand, the present 

 species is of general distribution, though most numerous on the banks of streams 

 and in the neighbourhood of morasses. Its flight is swift, graceful, and undulating, 



