WAGTAILS. 431 



often accompanied by a cheery call-note which can be heard at a considerable 

 distance. Sometimes it frequents gravelly islets like the grey wagtail, but this is 

 rather the exception than the rule, since the bird prefers the environs of sluggish 

 rivers and the banks of canals to more rapid streams. The blue-headed wagtail 

 nests in meadow-lands, generally in a tuft of grass or a tussock of rushes, but 

 sometimes a number of pairs nest together in a single field. The nest is built of 



YELLOW-HEADED WAGTAIL, BLUE-HEADED WAGTAIL, AND MEADOW-PIPIT (| nat. size). 



dry stems of grass and scraps of moss, lined with fine bents and hair ; the eggs 

 being yellowish white in ground-colour, mottled and clouded with pale brown. 

 When the eggs are hatched, the old birds wait eagerly upon their offspring, 

 continuing to watch over their safety long after they are fledged. These birds 

 are exceedingly fond of the neighbourhood of horses, running in and out between 

 the feet of the animals with singular unconcern. The adult male has the upper- 

 parts yellowish green ; the forehead, crown and lores, a beautiful slaty blue, set 



