312 IXSECTIVOR^:. 



of a foot for walking upon elastic surfaces, such as grass. 

 The bird accordingly frequents the cultivated lands, the pas- 

 tures, and ploughed fields, indiscriminately, more than the 

 margins of the waters. Its proper character with us is that 

 of a summer visitant of the open fields, and it prefers inland 

 places to those on the coast. Its nesting corresponds ; for 

 the nest is built on the ground, and not under stones or in 

 the shelves of banks. The nest is formed of dry vegetable 

 fibres, and lined with hair; and the eggs, which are not 

 more than six in number, have the prevailing colour of those 

 which are laid in ground nests. They are light brown, with 

 darker brown spots. The nest is, however, generally placed 

 under some cover, as in a tuft of grass, or at the root of a 

 tree. The young bird resembles the female. 



These birds, which are by no means uncommon, make their 

 appearance in March ; and, as they are then most abundant 

 in those elevated parts of the country which are better 

 adapted for the growth of oats than of wheat, they have 

 been called " oat-seed" birds. They ply their labours, both 

 assisting in the nest, and the male crying shrilly but not 

 singing ; and by the end of July the broods are fully fledged. 

 In August they accumulate in flocks on the stubble lands, 

 and especially on the richer pastures, and about the pens and 

 folds ; and by September they leave the kingdom generally, 

 though it is probable that a few may pass the winter on the 

 warm downs near the channel 



These birds occupy a particular zone (the edge of the culti- 

 vated country, but within it), a zone not exactly occupied by 

 any other migratory species ; and, therefore, they want to be 

 more carefully studied, not as wagtails (which they really 

 are not), but as migratory birds connected with that particu- 

 lar zone, and depending chiefly upon the insects, the larvse, 

 and the worms, which are peculiar to that. There is no 

 satisfactory knowledge of birds (or of any animals), unless it 



