The Bird Book 



The Pied Wagtail, too, utilises the hollows 

 near the crown of the pollard, and the nest is 

 generally concealed behind some tuft of grass or 

 small plant, which has taken root in the debris 

 collected there. Other favourite nesting-places 

 are holes in banks, in ivy growing against walls 

 and trees, on ledges of rock, and I have found 

 the nest in ornamental flower pots, snugly tucked 

 away in a hollow scraped out in the soil at the 

 roots of a flowering geranium ! The bird itself 

 is the personification of grace, and enhances any 

 lawn it may chance to frequent, for it is a very 

 pretty sight as it runs along the grass, continually 

 nodding its head and flirting its long tail, now 

 darting swiftly aside after some insect, and now 

 springing into the air to effect the capture. 



The Wagtails are the smallest birds that walk, 

 the Thrushes the largest that hop. Their flight, 

 too, is peculiar, for the birds proceed by a series 

 of undulations, rising with a few rapid beats of 

 the wing, and almost closing them as they sink, 

 accompanying each dip with the utterance of their 

 call-note, which is well rendered by the words 

 " chiz-zit." This method of flight is shared by 

 the Green Wood-pecker, but I am unable to give 

 any reason for the peculiarity. 



The name of Pied Wagtail is one of the most 



appropriate given to any bird, for the crown of 



the head, the back and the tail, with the exception 



of the two outermost feathers, are black ; the fore- 



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