THE COMMON PIED WAGTAIL. 437 



peculiar food is abundant. It is a bird of passage, which, he- 

 fore departing, at the beginning of October, collects in great 

 numbers, like the Swallows. It returns as soon as the first warm 

 days of February or March entice from their holes the flies, 

 which form its food, and the aquatic insects are to be caught 

 in the brooks. 



It may be confined in a cage, or allowed to range the room, 

 though in either case plenty of sand must be provided, as it 

 is a dirty bird, and its excrement is both fluid and copious. 



Food. "When wild, it feeds on gnats, aquatic insects, and 

 their Iarva3, flies, and such insects as teaze the cattle, round 

 which it may often be seen flying. It also follows the plough, 

 in order to devour the insects which are turned up. 



In the aviary it must at first be fed on ants' eggs, meal 

 worms, and different insects, but will soon become used to the 

 universal paste, or will eat bread and meat. If kept in a cage, 

 it needs the Nightingale's paste. 



Breeding. The Wagtail builds twice or thrice a year, in 

 all kinds of holes and crevices ; between stones, in hollow trees, 

 under roofs, &c. Its nest is loosely composed of grass roots, 

 moss, hay, &e., and lined with hair, wool, and swine's bristles. 

 The female usually lays five or six bluish white eggs, spotted 

 with black. If the young ones be reared from the nest, they 

 become so tame, as to fly in and out of the aviary ; and while 

 building their nest and breeding in it, will forage for their own 

 subsistence. 



Diseases. The diseases to which the Wagtail is most liable, 

 are diarrhoea and atrophy, though this, as well as the two fol- 

 lowing species, may often be preserved alive for four years or 

 more. 



Mode of Taking. If snow should happen to fall as late as 

 March, these birds may be taken by clearing a spot of ground, 

 and setting it with limed twigs, baited with meal worms. For 

 this purpose, a spot should be chosen which the bird has been 

 observed to frequent. 



Attractive Qualities. The Wagtail is recommended to the 

 amateur both by its lively disposition, which it expresses by 

 the well-known motion of its tail, and its song, which, though 

 not loud, is varied, and lasts throughout the year. I always 

 keep a Wagtail in my aviary, and in the chorus of the Black- 

 cap, Bluethroat, Lark, and Linnet, it seems to take the alto 



