THE SINGING BIRDS. 285 



newly-ploughed fields. There is, moreover, a saying in parts of Sweden, that if the farmer com- 

 mences ploughing either before the coming or after the departure of the White Wagtail, success will 

 not attend his labours. 



THE PIED WAGTAIL. 



The Pied Wagtail {Motacilla Yarrelli) was formerly supposed to be identical with the bird 

 just described. Mr. Gould, who first decided that the two species were quite distinct, thus 

 discriminates between them, in a communication to the Magazine of Natural History : — " The Pied 

 Wagtail of England is somewhat more robust in form than the true Motacilla alba, and in its summer 

 dress has the whole of the head, chest, and back of a full, deep jet-black ; while in the White Wagtail 

 [Motacilla alba), at the same period, the throat and part of the head alone are of this colour, the back 

 and the rest of the upper surface being of a light ash-grey. In winter the two species more nearly 

 assimilate in their colouring; and this circumstance has doubtless been the cause of their being hitherto 

 considered identical, the black back of Motacilla Yarrelli being grey at this season, although never so 

 light as in Motacilla alba. An additional evidence of their being distinct (but which has doubtless 

 contributed to the confusion) is, that the female of our Pied Wagtail never has the back black, as in 

 the male ; this part, even in summer, being dark grey, in which respect it closely resembles the other 

 species." 



" The Pied Wagtail of this country," says Mr. Yarrell, " though a very common bird, is deservedly 

 admired for the elegance of its form, as well as for the activity and airy lightness exhibited in all' its 

 actions. It is ever in motion, running with facility by a rapid succession of steps in pursuit of its 

 insect food, moving from place to place by short undulating flights, uttering a cheerful chirping note 

 while on the wing, alighting again on the ground with a sylph-like buoyancy and a graceful fanning 

 motion of the tail, from which it derives its name. It frequents the vicinity of ponds and streams, 

 moist pastures, and the grass-plots of pleasure-grounds ; may be frequently seen wading in shallow 

 water seeking for various aquatic insects or their larvae ; and a portion of a letter sent me lately by 

 William Rayner, Esq., of Uxbridge, who keeps a variety of birds in a large aviary near his parlour 

 window for the pleasure of observing their habits, seems to prove that partiality to other prey besides 

 aquatic insects, has some influence in the constant visits of Wagtails to water. " I had," says that 

 gentleman, "during the year 1837, several Wagtails, the pied and yellow, both of which were verv 

 expert in catching and feeding on minnows which were in a fountain in the centre of the aviary. 

 These birds hover over the water, and, as they skim the surface, catch the minnow as it approaches 

 the top of the water in the most dexterous manner ; and I was much surprised at the wariness and 

 cunning of some Blackbirds and Thrushes in watching the Wagtails catch the minnows, and 

 immediately seizing the prize for their own dinner." 



The nest of our Pied Wagtail is formed of moss, dead grass, and fibrous roots, lined with hair 

 and a few feathers. It is sometimes placed on the bare ground on a ditch bank, sometimes in a 

 hole of a wall, or thatch of an outbuilding, and it is frequently fixed in the side of a wood-stack 01 

 hay-rick ; occasionally it has been found occupying a cavity in a peat-stack or a wall of turf sod, but 

 always in the vicinity of water. The eggs are four or five in number, white, speckled with ash-colour, 

 nine lines in length and seven lines in breadth. 



Mr. Jesse, in his " Gleanings in Natural History," records an instance of a Water Wagtail 

 building her nest in one of the workshops of a manufactory at Taunton : — "The room was occupied 

 by braziers, and the noise produced by them was loud and incessant. The nest was built near the 

 wheel of a lathe, which revolved within a foot of it. In this strange situation the bird hatched four 

 young ones ; but the male not having accustomed himself to such company, instead of feeding the 



