348 SUMMER. 



which colour it is named after, as they are pretty 

 equally distributed. The forehead, cheeks, sides of 

 the neck, belly, vent, borders of the greater wing 

 covers, edges of the quills, and outer feathers of 

 the tail are white, and all the rest black, inclining 

 on the middle of the back to a dusky ash colour. 



It is a very lively bird, runs with great rapidity for 

 its size, flies in short but swift jerks, and the continual 

 motion of the tail, spreading out laterally as it is raised, 

 and closing again as it is depressed, gives it more ap- 

 parent activity than it has in reality. We have men- 

 tioned that where the banks of waters are open, the 

 wagtails remain permanently, and in other places they 

 soon find out when the thaw takes place ; and return- 

 ing from warmer parts of the country, or from the sea 

 shore, they run and whisk about throughout the season, 

 capturing a vast number of insects and their larvse. 

 They are familiar little creatures, and perch upon the 

 tops of cottages, or alight close by the larger animals, or 

 by man ; and there are instances of fishers with worm, 

 angling for a trout and catching a wagtail. In the 

 fields that are near water, they join in the farm labour. 

 They follow the plough and the harrow, and mingle 

 with the rooks in picking up the insects and worms 

 that these unearth. When cattle come to stand in the 

 water, or even in a moist place where insects are 

 abundant, they are sure to be joined by the wagtails. 

 Insects always crowd about the larger animals, and it 

 is partly with a view to get rid of those pests, that 

 they betake themselves to the water. But they are 

 followed there by their old tormentors, and they meet 

 with an accumulation of new ones. Their feet also 



