THE WAGTAILS. 107 



Wagtails are, as a group, most difficult to identify; it 

 is easy to tell the pied ones from the yellow ones, it is" 

 true, but there are several kinds in each section, and, with 

 their changes of plumage according to age and season, 

 they are not the birds for the beginner to attempt to 

 identify. 



Fortunately, however, the two best known kinds are 

 easily distinguished from all the rest, and these are the 

 only ones which need be treated at length here. 



THE LARGE PIED WAGTAIL (Motacilla madraspatensis) 

 is called Mamula or Khanjan in Hindustani ; it is the 

 largest of the Wagtails, and is the only one which is 

 resident in the plains. Apart from its size it is about 

 nine inches long its markings are very characteristic. 

 The male is altogether black and white ; the general 

 plumage being black, with the eyebrows, belly, sides of 

 the tail, and most of the wing white. The hen is smaller 

 and has the back grey instead of black, but otherwise 

 is just like the cock. 



Young birds are drab where the old ones are black, 

 and the white parts of the plumage are not so pure. This 

 species differs from other pied Wagtails in showing 

 so little white about the head. The large Pied Wagtail 

 is confined to India and Ceylon, and is rare in Eastern 

 Bengal, though I have once seen it in Calcutta. It does 

 not go far up the Himalayas, but ascends the South 

 Indian hills up to eight thousand feet. 



It builds a small pad of a nest in any convenient hole 

 in a bank or building and lays four brown-spotted 

 eggs. Unlike most Wagtails, it is a good songster, 



