438 THE COMMON PIED WAGTAIL. 



part. It is also useful in destroying flies, for which its quick 

 gait and motions seem especially fitted. 



ADDITIONAL. It appears that the bird commonly known as 

 the Pied, White, Black and White, Water, or Winter Wagtail, 

 or, as some say, the Dishwasher, is not an identical species with 

 that which BECHSTEIN describes under the first of these names, 

 the Motacilla Alba of LINN^US, although several naturalists 

 have so considered it. The following observations by GOULD upon 

 this disputed point, were first published in the Magazine of 

 Natural History for 1837 : " Wnile engaged on this tribe of 

 birds, during the course of my work on the Birds of Europe, 1 

 was surprised to find that the sprightly Pied Wagtail, so abun- 

 dant in our islands at all seasons, could not be referred to any 

 described species ; and that it was equally as limited in its habitat ; 

 for besides the British Islands, Norway and Sweden are the only 

 parts of Europe whence I have been able to procure examples, 

 identical with our bird, whose place in the temperate portions of 

 Europe is supplied by a nearly allied, but distinct species, the 

 true M. Alba of LINN^US ; which, although abundant in France, 

 particularly in the neighbourhood of Calais, has never yet been 

 discovered on the opposite shores of Kent, or in any part of 

 England. As, therefore, our bird, which has always been consi- 

 dered as identical with the M. Alba, proves to be a distinct 

 species, I have named it after my friend, W. YARRELL, Esq., as 

 a just tribute to his varied accomplishments as a naturalist." 



KNOX, in his Ornithological Rambles, has written at consider- 

 able length on these birds ; we quote a portion of his account : 



" On fine dry days in March, I have frequently seen Pied 

 Wagtails approaching the coast, aided by a gentle breeze from 

 the south, the well-known call-note being distinctly audible under 

 such favourable circumstances from a considerable distance at 

 sea, even long before the birds themselves could be perceived. 

 The fields in the immediate neighbourhood, where but a short 

 time before scarcely an individual was to be found, are soon 

 tenanted by numbers of this species, and for several days they 

 continue dropping on the beach in small parties. 



" About the beginning of September, an early riser visiting the 

 fields in the neighbourhood of the coast, may observe them nying 

 invariably from west to east, parallel to the shore, and following 

 each other in constant succession. These flights continue from 

 daylight until about ten in the forenoon ; and it is a remarkable 

 fact, that so steadily do they pursue this course, and so pertina- 

 cious are they in adhering to it, that even a shot fired at an 

 advancing party, and the death of more than one individual, have 



