106 GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS. 



is made near the ground or even on it, in some hole or 

 other, and the eggs are speckled with brown. 



Wagtails are only found in open ground, and are 

 particularly fond of the neighbourhood of water, in which 

 they wade and paddle like Sandpipers. They are most 

 useful as well as ornamental birds, and deserve every 

 protection ; they would also be useful birds to acclimatise 

 where insectivorous species are needed, as their diet is 

 so exclusively restricted to insects that they can do no 

 harm at all. 



Wagtails are found nearly all over the Eastern 

 Hemisphere, usually migrating southwards in winter, but 

 none are inhabitants of Australia or New Zealand, and one 

 or two kinds only invade America. Wherever they occur 

 they are common and familiar birds, and generally popular. 

 They are seldom kept in confinement, and are not suited 

 for cage-life, but in an aviary they do very well, being 

 easier to keep than most small insectivorous birds. 

 Delicate and fragile as they look, however, they are most 

 savage birds, and it is impossible to keep even two of 

 different species together unless they be cock and hen. 

 In this case, however, they have been known to interbreed 

 in captivity. 



There are good many species of Wagtails in India, 

 mostly winter visitors ; the natives know them generally 

 as Dhobrin, a name which exactly corresponds to the 

 French Lavandiere ; I suppose the wagging of the bird's 

 tail and its fondness for water have suggested a com- 

 parison with the wife of the miscreant who batters 

 clothes. 



