A WAGTAIL DRAMA 159 



One of the crowning pleasures of observation is the 

 frequency of the unexpected. If you go forth to seek one 

 particular thing a plant, an insect, a bird, a mammal 

 it is odds that you fail in the conscious search, but succeed 

 otherwise. For example : a new note sounded in the 

 garden : ch-ch-ch ee-ee ; the first part a chuckle, almost 

 a warble ; the second a disconnected cry, as high and 

 shrill almost as a bat s. Was it true that the grey wagtails 

 had returned after five years absence ? They are rare in 

 our Home Counties, at least in the breeding season, and 

 of all birds in the calendar the most pleasing to watch. 

 We hurried towards the merry notes, coming from a may 

 bush overhanging the stream ; but on the way a more 

 dramatic event though in the wagtail world diverted us . 



Hurrying feet, as always, attracted the spaniel, for no 

 motorist is less resistant to the attraction of speed than 

 a springer ; and as a villager said of this one : &quot; The 

 bitches always be more keenerer nor what the dogs are/ 

 On the way she stopped suddenly at a revolving summer- 

 house, under which a young pied wagtail had run, taking 

 cover, like some wheatear on the moor, in the nearest 

 hole. The mother wagtail saw the danger, and with a 

 real, unmistakable shout of anger flew straight at the 

 dog s head, and did not jink aside till she was within a 

 foot or so of her astonished face. Then she flew off very 

 slowly at not more than a foot from the ground, almost 

 compelling the bitch to give chase. The course did not 

 end till the bird, like some hurdler, just topped the 

 garden wall, some sixty yards away. The fury and direct 

 ness of the original attack were only less admirable in 

 courage than the subsequent attractive flight in its 

 maternal cunning. 



