WAGTAILS 15 



Albany, but is fairly common in the Orange Free State 

 and parts of the Transvaal, notably, at Irene, near Pretoria. 

 One clutch of eggs was taken at Bluekrantz, near Grahams- 

 town, and several clutches in the Orange Free State. 

 In each case the nest was placed in a hollow in the ground 

 beneath a stone on a rocky hillside ; it was cup-shaped, 

 hned with fine fibre and hair, and contained three eggs, each 

 of a greenish-white ground colour, spotted and blotched with 

 purpUsh-brown and lavender. This species is redder in 

 tone and has a darker head than the Cape Bunting. It is 

 also smaller. Length, SJ inches ; wing, 3 inches. 



WAGTAILS 



The next family takes us to our confiding little friends 

 the Wagtails {Motacilla), locally caUed " Quickies " or 

 " Quickstertjes," of which South Africa possesses seven 

 species. 



Taking them in order of classification, we have first the 

 African Pied Wagtail (M. vidua) which is easily recognisable 

 anywhere by its jet black and pure white plumage. It is 

 distributed over the greater part of Africa, south of the 

 great desert, extending northwards into Egypt and Palestine. 

 Its eggs are larger than those of the Cape Wagtail. 



The Grey-backed Wagtail (M. longicauda) is blue-grey 

 above, the wing-feathers are black and white and the under- 

 parts white with a black band on the lower throat. The 

 tail is rather longer than that of any of the other species, 

 measuring about 4 inches. It is not a common bird, and is 

 very local in its distribution. Near Grahamstown it has 

 been found breeding, and we subjoin a photograph of a young 

 bird in its nest. Its eggs are grey mottled with brown. 



The Cape Wagtail (M. cajpensis) is the common species 



