94 BIRDS 5 NESTS. 



turing its prey, and anon coursing over the 

 aquatic weeds with so light a step, that not 

 even the slender water crowfoot bends be- 

 neath its weight, we should expect that, for 

 the convenience of supplying its young with 

 food, it would place its nest not very far 

 off. And such is the case. A hole in a 

 hedge, the side of a crumbling bank, a con- 

 venient corner in a dilapidated bridge, the 

 gnarled root of a tree, any of these places is 

 likely to contain the snug little nest of the 

 wagtail. It is built of dry grass, roots, and 

 moss, and lined with finer roots and hair, and 

 usually so placed as to be arched over by the 

 substance in which it is built. The eggs are 

 from four to five, three quarters of an inch 

 long, of a dull white ground, with numerous 

 blackish spots interspersed with lines or 

 blotches of the same colour, and occasionally 

 approach in colour and markings those of the 

 sparrow. The nest and eggs of the Yellow Wag- 

 tail (M.flava) closely resemble those of the Pied 



