152 



KEARTONS' NATURE PICTURES 



the side of a rick, beneath an old bucket 

 standing upside down in a garden, the 



THE TIED WAGTAIL. 



parent birds finding ingress and egress 

 through a rust-eaten hole in the bottom 

 of the utensil. I have also known a 

 pair build inside the disused nest of a 

 blackbird, and another on the spring 



of an old locomotive tender standing 

 in a much used siding. 



The structure is made of dead grass, 

 rootlets, moss and fern fronds, with an 

 inner lining of down, feathers, or hair. 



From four to six eggs are laid of a 

 greyish white ground colour, thickly 

 spotted with ash grey or light brown. 

 They are subject to considerable varia- 

 tion in ground colour and markings, and 

 are laid during March, April, May and 

 June. 



The male bird helps the female to 

 feed the young ones, but is, as a rule, 

 considerably shyer. He may be dis- 

 tinguished from his mate by the fact 

 that he is rather larger and more pro- 

 nounced in his coloration. The young 

 ones, if disturbed, will leave the nest 

 before they can fly and hide in any little 

 hole into which they can squeeze their 

 bodies, but will, if possible, return to 

 their old home to roost. 



