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  421 
  ) 
  

  

  ON 
  THE 
  NESTING 
  HABITS 
  OF 
  THE 
  PIED 
  WAGTAIL 
  

   {MOT 
  AC 
  ILL 
  A 
  LUGUBRIS, 
  Temm.). 
  

  

  By 
  the 
  Key. 
  F. 
  C. 
  B. 
  Jourdain, 
  M.A., 
  M.B.O.U. 
  

  

  None 
  of 
  our 
  standard 
  works 
  on 
  British 
  ornithology 
  appear 
  to 
  

   mention 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  this 
  bird 
  not 
  infrequently 
  adapts 
  the 
  nest 
  

   of 
  some 
  other 
  species 
  to 
  its 
  own 
  needs. 
  I 
  am 
  inclined 
  to 
  think 
  

   that 
  the 
  habit 
  is 
  more 
  common 
  than 
  is 
  generally 
  supposed 
  to 
  be 
  

   the 
  case, 
  and 
  that 
  many 
  Wagtails' 
  nests, 
  on 
  examination, 
  will 
  

   prove 
  to 
  be 
  merely 
  relined 
  old 
  nests 
  of 
  some 
  other 
  species. 
  Since 
  

   my 
  attention 
  was 
  first 
  drawn 
  to 
  this, 
  I 
  have 
  noted 
  down 
  a 
  few 
  

   recorded 
  instances 
  of 
  a 
  similar 
  kind. 
  Thus 
  Mr. 
  H. 
  Blake-Knox 
  

   (Zool. 
  1862, 
  p. 
  7997) 
  says 
  that 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  these 
  birds 
  " 
  took 
  posses- 
  

   sion 
  of 
  a 
  deserted 
  nest 
  of 
  the 
  Eobin 
  in 
  an 
  ivied 
  wall 
  ; 
  the 
  young 
  

   were 
  reared." 
  In 
  the 
  same 
  volume 
  (p. 
  8099), 
  Mr. 
  H. 
  Beaks 
  states 
  

   that 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  of 
  1861 
  a 
  Bobin 
  built 
  its 
  nest 
  under 
  the 
  

   thatched 
  eaves 
  of 
  a 
  garden 
  summer-house 
  : 
  " 
  this 
  year 
  [18621 
  a 
  

   Pied 
  Wagtail 
  repaired 
  the 
  nest, 
  and 
  deposited 
  five 
  eggs 
  therein." 
  

   An 
  even 
  more 
  remarkable 
  instance 
  is 
  related 
  by 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  Banson 
  in 
  

   ' 
  The 
  Zoologist 
  ' 
  for 
  1863 
  (p. 
  8844) 
  : 
  " 
  For 
  some 
  years 
  past 
  a 
  pair 
  

   of 
  Chimney- 
  Swallows 
  have 
  built 
  their 
  nest 
  and 
  reared 
  their 
  young 
  

   in 
  one 
  of 
  our 
  chimneys, 
  but 
  this 
  spring 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  Wagtails 
  took 
  

   possession 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  nest, 
  and 
  have 
  reared 
  one 
  brood, 
  and 
  the 
  

   hen, 
  on 
  the 
  29th 
  of 
  June, 
  was 
  sitting 
  on 
  her 
  second 
  laying. 
  The 
  

   Swallows 
  made 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  ineffectual 
  attempts 
  to 
  build 
  in 
  the 
  

   same 
  chimney, 
  but 
  were 
  compelled 
  to 
  take 
  to 
  another." 
  

  

  Mr. 
  J. 
  J. 
  B. 
  Young 
  has 
  recorded 
  in 
  the 
  'Field' 
  an 
  instance 
  

   of 
  a 
  Wagtail 
  breeding 
  in 
  an 
  old 
  Thrush's 
  nest 
  at 
  Stonyhurst, 
  

   Lancashire 
  ; 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  paper 
  a 
  correspondent 
  from 
  

   Cringleford 
  describes 
  how 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  Wagtails 
  took 
  possession 
  of 
  

   a 
  deserted 
  Thrush's 
  nest 
  with 
  four 
  eggs, 
  and 
  built 
  upon 
  the 
  top 
  

   of 
  it 
  ('Field,' 
  June 
  1st, 
  1895). 
  My 
  friend 
  Mr. 
  E. 
  W. 
  H. 
  Blagg 
  

   found 
  a 
  Pied 
  Wagtail's 
  nest 
  with 
  five 
  eggs 
  in 
  an 
  old 
  Blackbird's 
  

   nest 
  in 
  a 
  rhododendron-bush 
  in 
  a 
  shrubbery 
  at 
  Cheadle, 
  Stafford- 
  

   shire, 
  and 
  in 
  1902 
  Mr. 
  B. 
  H. 
  Bead 
  found 
  a 
  nest 
  of 
  the 
  Pied 
  

   Wagtail 
  built 
  in 
  a 
  nest 
  of 
  the 
  Song- 
  Thrush, 
  from 
  which 
  the 
  

  

  