18 FRIENDS OP THE AGEICULTUBIST 



house and along watercourses, where it usually nests under 

 a tuft of grass on the edge of the bank or on a ledge in the 

 bank itself. We have also found the nest situated on willow 

 stumps and in creepers growing on the side of a house. It 

 builds a cup-shaped nest of grass lined with twine, wool, 

 &c. ; it is often exteriorly of an untidy appearance, but inside 

 neat and cozy. The Gape Wagtail lays three eggs of a buf&sh 

 tinge thickly marked with pale brown. When incubated 

 the mottlings often become obscure, giving the egg a general 

 brownish tinge. 



Eay's Yellow Wagtail (M, campestris) is a rare migrant 

 from Europe, breeding in the British Islands and Southern 

 Eussia. We saw a single specimen on the Jokeskei Eiver 

 north of Johannesburg, in December, 1905. 



The Blue-headed Wagtail (M. flava) is olive-yellow above 

 and bright yellow below, with a blue-grey head. It is also 

 a migrant from Europe and Asia, ranging as far south as 

 Natal, Transvaal and Damaraland. 



The Black-headed Wagtail (M. melanocefhala) is another 

 European bird, but has only been once recorded from South 

 Africa — ^by Ayres, from the Transvaal. 



The Wagtails are true friends of the farmer, being almost 

 exclusively insect feeders, accounting for large numbers of 

 plant-bugs and lice, mosquitoes, caterpillars, &c. 



SUGAR-BIRDS 



The Sugar-Birds (Promeropidce), called Zuiker-vogels by 

 the Boers — a name shared by the Sunbirds — are also real 

 friends of the farmer, for although subsisting largely on 



