196 BRITISH BIRDS. 



catcher. Then perhaps they will flutter dovra to the mud-banks in the 

 centre of a pool or half-emptied mill-dam^ alighting gracefully, without 

 soiling a feather of their pure white under plumage. 



The Pied Wagtail is often seen in the meadows, and runs about quite 

 fearlessly amongst the grazing cattle, seeming to know full well that they 

 will not harm it, and that they are conscious of its good offices in ridding 

 them of their insect pests. In the autumn many Pied Wagtails may be 

 seen on the sea-coasts, even wading in the shallow water. Here the chief 

 objects of their quest are the small sand-flies, swarming in countless 

 myriads on the heaps of decaying seaweed or sporting over the sands. 



The song of the Pied Wagtail is only heard at rare intervals, most fre- 

 uently in the spring ; it is a short, loud, and varied strain, putting you 

 in mind of the twitter of a Swallow, and is generally uttered when the 

 bird is fluttering in the air like a Pipit. Sometimes he will sing when 

 daintily poised on a water-encircled stone or even on a clod of earth. Its 

 call-note is generally a sharply-uttered chiz-zit ; but it has also a pro- 

 longed note, which is probably used from one sex to the other. 



The Pied Wagtail is a somewhat early breeder, generally beginning 

 operations in April ; and Gray remarks, in his ' Birds of the West of Scot- 

 land,^ that he has observed young birds in full fbather as early as the 

 middle of May. The nest is built in various situations. Sometimes it 

 is placed far under a convenient stone, at other times under a tile in 

 a brick-field or even in a disused drain-pipe. More general situations for 

 it are in holes of walls or rock-crevices, amongst the gnarled roots of 

 trees, on the margin of a stream, in a rugged bank, or on the wall-plate of 

 a cattle-shed, whilst less frequently a hole in thatch, a pile of wood, a 

 haystack, or a heap of stones will be chosen. The nest is a somewhat 

 bulky structure, thickly matted together, and made of dry grass, roots, 

 moss, and leaves, and lined with wonderful neatness with wool, hair, and 

 often with feathers. The eggs of the Pied Wagtail are from four to six in 

 number, greyish white or the palest of blue in ground-colour, profusely 

 speckled and spotted with greyish brown, and with underlying markings of 

 French grey. Some specimens have the markings more or less streaky, and 

 on many there are a few hair-like streaks of rich blackish brown. They 

 vary in length from "86 to '75 inch and in breadth from '63 to '56 inch, and 

 many specimens closely resemble certain varieties of those of the House- 

 Sparrow, but are seldom so elongated. 



Dixon writes : — " Young Pied Wagtails stay in their parents' company 

 some time after they quit the nest ; indeed in some cases they will keep in 

 company through the autumn and winter. It is a pleasing sight to see a 

 young brood of these Wagtails and their parents. The little creatures, 

 some time before they are able to fly, will leave the nest and wait 

 patiently the arrival of their parents with food ; but upon the least alarm 



