YELLOW WAGTAIL. ' 215 



it is generally made of dry grass or twitch. Mr. J. CuUingford writes 

 to me respecting the nest of this hird in South Lincolnshire : — " This 

 is a bird whose nest varies very much, and scarcely ever do you 

 find two nests made of the same materials, even if within fifty yards of 

 each other. I have had some lined with feathers, some with hair, and 

 some with roots." The eggs are five or six in number, greyish white 

 in ground-colour, very thickly mottled and speckled with pale brown or 

 olive-brown, often so thickly as to hide all traces of the ground-colour. 

 Many specimens have one or two rich blackish-brown streaks on the larger 

 end. The eggs in a clutch in my collection from Hickling Broad are 

 sufiiised with a delicate rosy tinge. Many of the eggs of this bird cannot 

 with certainty be distinguished from those of the Sedge- Warbler, and it is 

 absolutely impossible to separate them from those of the Blue-headed 

 Wagtail. They vary in length from '82 to '73 inch, and in breadth 

 from '63 to "55 inch. The young are tended by the old birds for a 

 short time after they leave the nest, when they are left to take care of 

 themselves, and their parents rear a second brood, always building a fresh 

 nest for the purpose. 



The Yellow Wagtail feeds on insects, grubs, and small worms ; it also 

 eats a considerable number of small beetles, for it seems to search the 

 stems and leaves of vegetation more closely than its congeners do. It 

 may also be seen repeatedly amongst the droppings of the cattle — places 

 where considerable numbers of beetles may be found. In spring it 

 searches eagerly for larvae of different kinds. 



When the second broods are capable of taking care of themselves. Yellow 

 Wagtails often congregate into flocks of considerable size and wander 

 away from their usual haunts. In autumn numbers of these birds may be 

 seen at the mouths of tidal rivers, doubtless following the stream to the 

 sea. These flocks have congregated for the purpose of migrating to their 

 winter-quarters. Many birds leave us in September ; others remain 

 lingering in seductive haunts until October ere they pass southwards. It 

 is, however, a fact that this bird does not entirely quit our shores in 

 winter. Dixon has repeatedly seen it in the depth of winter in the 

 hardest weather, frequenting the banks of running streams; and when 

 the snow has been lying inches deep, he has noticed this gay little bird 

 tripping over the frosted surface apparently as much at ease as if on 

 the summer pastures. Macgillivray states that it leaves Scotland about 

 the middle of August. It is very common on the south coast at the 

 periods of migration, probably crossing the channel at its narrowest part. 



The adult male Yellow Wagtail in breeding-plumage has the general colour 

 of the upper parts yellowish green, brightest on the forehead and darkest on 

 the upper tail-coverts ; the wings, wing-coverts, and tail scarcely differ in 

 colour from those of the other British Wagtails. A streak over the eye 



