F its odd, dipping flight, and its curious 
habit of jerking its tail up and down with 
every movement of its body, this bird is familiar to every 
resident in the country. It is seldom seen far away from 
water, and delights to run to and fro on the banks of a stream, 
or in a damp meadow, searching for the insects on which it 
feeds. It is a frequent visitor, too, to the sea-shore, where 
it follows the retreating tide, picking up any small creatures 
which the ebbing waves may leave behind them. And 
every now and then it comes into the garden and spends a 
few minutes in hunting about on the lawn, and dragging 
one tiny victim after another out of its retreat. 
Wagtails are not migratory birds, in the strict sense of 
the term, but they travel about the country a good deal, 
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