niRDS. 205 



not be touclied with the hands, for then the old ones will per- 

 ceive it, and entice them away. They should not be taken till 

 they are almost as full of feathers as the old ones ; and, though 

 they refuse their meat, yet, by oneniiig their bills, you iray give 



of the brciist, are of a dull bluish ash ; the belly is of the same colour, but 

 lighter ; and the legs are reddish brown. 



This bird is frequently seen in hedges, from which circumstance it derives 

 one of its names ; but it has no other relation to the sparrow than in the 

 dinginess of its colours ; in every other respect it differs entirely. It re- 

 mains with us the whole year, and builds its nest near the ground ; it is 

 composed of moss and wool, and lined with hair. The female generally 

 lays four or five eggs, of a uniform pale blue, without any spots ; the young 

 are hatched about the beginning of May. During the time of sitting, if a 

 rat or other voracious animal come near the nest, the mother endeavours 

 to divert it from the spot by a stratagem similar to that by which the par. 

 Iridic misleads the dog : she springs up, and flutters from spot to spot, bv 

 which means allures her enemy to a safe distance. In France the hedge, 

 sparrow is rarely seen but in winter ; it arrives generally in October, and 

 departs in the spring for more northern regions, where it breeds. It is sup- 

 posed to brave the rigours of winter in Sweden, and that it assumes the white 

 plumage common in these severe Mimates in that season. Its song is little 

 varied, but pleasant, especially in a season when all other warblers are 

 silent: its usual strain is a sort of quivering, frequently repeating some- 

 thing like the following tit-tit tititit ; from which, ia some places, it is 

 called the titling. 



We may here notice the Wagtnih, and Pipits. 



Linnaeus comprised, under the denomination of MolaciU/i, a great number 

 of birds with slender beaks, which have subsequently been divided into 

 many genera. Bcclistein has restrained the name to the wagtails proper, 

 and budytes, which have more elevated limbs, and a longer tail than the 

 rest, which they are continually lowering and raising. To such the name 

 is more suitable than to any of the others. These birds have, moreover, as 

 distinctive marks, certain scapulary feathers, wliich, extending to the end 

 of the wing, give them some relation Avith the majority of the grallae, and a 

 tail composed of twelve rectrices nearly equal, with the two lateral, how- 

 ever, shorter than the eight intermediate quills. M. Cuvier has separated 

 the wagtails proper from the budytes, a name derived from these latter 

 birds being frequently seen amongst cattle. There ir^, however, very gi-eat 

 analogy between the t^vo sections. Perhaps our popiilar name of wagtail 

 is the best to apply to both. The majority of the wagtails proper, and all 

 the yellow wagtails, migrate from our northern countries at the approach 

 of winter. The hoarula on the contrary comes to pass the winter with us, 

 and quits us when the others return. It is aaid to nestle in the German dis- 

 tricts, which border on the French territories. 



All these birds frequent meadows, and humid and marshy places, delight- 

 ing in the borders of rivulets and rivers. Most of them have an undulating 

 flight. They all run rather than walk ; seldom perch, sing, or cry, during 

 their flight ; and construct their nest <m the ground. That of the white 

 wagtail is, however, sometimes found in a pile of wooo, alongside ot the 



m. z 



