Ray's Wagtail. 179 



dependent on the neighbourhood of water as its congeners. It 

 has a shorter tail, and is altogether less graceful in form than the 

 Gray Wagtail ; but in colour it is more brilliant, and of a more 

 pronounced yellow than that bird, the olive-green of its upper 

 plumage partaking of the yellow tinge which is so bright and 

 clear below. It was called Raii, in honour of John Ray, the 

 friend of Willughby, and one of the pioneers of British ornitho- 

 logy, who flourished about two hundred years ago. In some 

 places it is called the ' Barley Bird,' and in others the ' Oatseed 

 Bird,' from its arrival being coincident with the spring sowing of 

 those two species of grain. In Malta, on arriving on migration in 

 flocks, these birds are caught in nets, and kept in shops and 

 houses for the purpose of killing flies,* with which that island is 

 infested in summer, and none but those who have experienced it 

 can conceive what an intolerable nuisance the plague of flies is. 

 In France it is Bergeronnette printaniere or de printemps, 

 * Little Shepherdess of Spring.' In Germany, Gelbe Bachstelze ; 

 and in Sweden, Gul Aria, ' Yellow Wagtail.' 



ANTHID.E (THE PIPITS). 



This is the last family of the tooth-billed tribe, and it forms an 

 excellent connecting link between the soft-billed insect-eaters 

 and the hard-billed grain-consumers. In many respects allied 

 to the Wagtails last described, in others nearly resembling the 

 Larks, the first family of the Conirostral tribe, it is, however, a 

 true soft-billed race, and subsists entirely on insects. 



The Anthidse derive their name from Anthus, known in 

 mythology as the son of Autonous and Hippodameia, who was 

 torn to pieces by his father's horses, and was metamorphosed into 

 a bird, which imitated the neighing, but always fled from the 

 sight of a horse.f 



69. TREE PIPIT (Anthus arboreus). 



This is a summer visitor, and though far from common, may 

 be seen in most woodland districts : it is by far the most beautiful 



Mr. Wright's < Birds of Malta,' in Ibis for 1864, p. 62. 

 t B.O.U. ' List of BritLh Birds,' p. 32. 



122 



