PIED GEAIilNA. 



313 



kingfishere, wagtails, and other water-loving birds. Owing to 

 the bold contrasts of black and white in their colouring they are 

 very conspicuous, and their restless movements always attract 

 the eye. 



Although in its shape the nest of the Pied Grallina does not 

 resemble that of the Oven bird, the materials with which it is 

 constructed are almost identical, consisting of mud and clay, in 



FAIRT UAnTIX. 



PIED GRALUXA. 



which are interwoven certain sticks, grasses, feathers, and stems 

 of plants, which serve to bind the clay together, just as cow's 

 hair binds together the plaster on our walls. When looking at 

 these nests, the observer is irresistibly reminded of the old 

 Babylonish bricks, in which the grass and straw stUl remain, 

 and serve to strengthen the Hl-bumed clay, which in many cases 



