WHITE WAGTAIL. 289 



Distribution. — Throughout England in suitable 

 spots ; widely but locally distributed in Ireland ; in 

 Scotland even more local, occurring chiefly in the 

 south. 



Largely migratory, but also to some extent resident, 

 the Goldfinch nests chiefly in gardens and orchards, 

 sometimes, however, placing its nest well out upon a 

 branch of oak or beech growing in the open country. 

 The song and call are the twitter and chirp of the 

 Finch tribe generally, and in order to identify the 

 Goldfinch one must look to the colours. These, and 

 the scheme of their distribution, are so distinctive 

 as to make it impossible to bracket this bird with 

 any other than the Jay, and that for the sole reason 

 that the Jay, like the Goldfinch,- possesses no very 

 obvious feature in common with any other bird. 

 Both are, popularly regarded, odd birds. However, 

 any difiSculty arising from this cause is obviated 

 by the illustration of the Goldfinch. These birds 

 band together in the autumn and roam the open 

 country, being drawn to waste lands by the thistles 

 growing there, the seeds of which form a favourite 

 item of their diet at that time. The brilliant crimson 

 in the face and the bright yellow in the wings of the 

 Goldfinch mark it off from every other British bird. 



WHITE WAGTAIL.— Form, like Pled Wagtail 

 (plate 11). Length, 7^ inches. Crown, nape, chin, 

 and gorget black ; forehead, sides of face, break in 

 gorget, and under parts white ; back even gray ; 

 wings dusky-brown, with broad white edges to the 



