V A Chapter on Wagtails i o i 



like to use their little legs freely, unhampered by thick 

 stalks of crowded herbage ; on a lawn they can see 

 insects at a distance, and run with sudden spurts, half 

 flying too sometimes, to seize them. While eating 

 and while running the tail is mostly still; but no 

 sooner is the run over and a fresh morsel pounced 

 on, than it is moved up and down rapidly, showing 

 plainly the two outer white feathers. 



But his nest may be some distance away from the 

 lawn he patronises, and we are not likely to find it 

 unless we have ample time to watch. This bird is 

 very apt to choose odd places, and many stories have 

 been told of his caprice in this way. Caprice it may 

 indeed seem to us, but I cannot but think it has an 

 object — to escape the constant persecution of the 

 Cuckoo. It was for this reason, I am sure, that a pair 

 in the garden of a friend of mine built a nest in the 

 far recesses of a greenhouse, among the flowerpots. 

 This nest was a singular one, and must have cost the 

 birds infinitely more labour than usual ; for as it was 

 not fitted into any hole, or supported by anything 

 but the shelf on which it stood, a strong sub- 

 structure had to be built first, on which it could 

 securely rest. The mass of dry grass and moss was 

 quite wonderful, and all the more pity that it should 

 have been collected in vain. The pair escaped from 

 one enemy only to fall victims to another. The 

 Cuckoo found them out, but was herself found out 



