THE SPECIES. 109 



Durham, but generally straggles over here on migration. It has a buoyant, airy flight, a 

 shrill call of "chit-up,*' and a twittering song. The female is a paler bird than the male, 

 with the eye stripe less marked. 



The Grey-headed Yellow Wagtail— Dim eusions, Dt ; Eggs, Ci — once sent two specimens 

 to Penzance, but they proceeded no further into the country owing to their being made 

 British in the usual tragic manner. M. viridis has not been seen here since. 



The Yellow Wagtail — Dimensions, Ei ; Eggs, Ci — arrives here annually shortly after Lady- 

 day, and leaves just before Michaelmas. It has a fluttering flight with long, bold 

 undulations, and an occasional soar, and as it drops to settle it spreads its tail so as to show 

 off its white. As it starts it gives its call of "gee-up," in addition to which it has a short and 

 rather cheery song. The female is browner on the back than the male, and is much paler 

 below. The nest is usually on the grass, or on a bank, or else at the foot of a wall. It is 

 made of dry grass, moss, and rootlets, and lined with hair, or feathers, or fur. It contains 

 five or six eggs. 



The White Wagtail — Dimensions, Fq ; Eggs, Dh — is a rare summer visitor, first noticed 

 in 1841, and probably often mistaken for the common Water Wagtail, which it resembles in 

 its flight, its song, and its nesting arrangements. The female has less white on her head, 

 and less black on her throat than the male, and the throat patch is mottled with white. 



The Pied Wagtail — Dimensions, Ga ; Eggs, Dd — is the Water Wagtail so often alluded to 

 as the " smallest bird that walks," which it very nearly is. It stays with us all the year 

 round. It is generally found near water, running about with much bobbing of the tail to 

 balance itself, and then taking to flight with a few rapid flaps, to soon ease its wings and 

 float off in curves " like Hogarth's line." The note, loud and short, is often given when on 

 the wing ; the call is " which is it ? " The female has a shorter tail than the male, and less 

 black about her. The nest is in a hole in a wall, or bank, or tree, or among a heap of stones ; 

 it is rather a large mass of moss, grasses, and leaves, lined with wool, hair, and feathers, 

 and it contains four, five, or six eggs. 



The Grey Wagtail — Dimensions, Gm ; Eggs, Cf— is one of our less commoner residents. 

 It has the Wagtail walk, with the tail Jerking and the head nodding; and its flight has the 

 long bold curves of its congeners, with a similar spreading of the tail as it comes tothe 

 ground. It is more of a percher than its fellows, and has a longer tail. Its note is shriller 

 but just as short, its call being "who? be? 'tis he ! 'tis he ! " The female has little or no 

 black on the throat, and more green in her plumage, and her tail is shorter. The nest is 

 generally under a ledge in a quarry, or on a bank near running water; it is made of rootlets, 

 grass, and moss, and lined with white cowhair ; and it contains five or six eggs. It may be 

 worth noting that MotacUla is merely wag-tail Latinised. 



MuscicaDa. Plate vi. MUSCICAPIN^ (Passeridse). 



3o. parva, 4I in. Red - breasted Flycatcher. Olive brown 



above ; red throat. 

 79. atricapilla, 5 in. Pied Flycatcher. Black above ; white throat, 

 78. gHsola, $\ in. Spotted Flycatcher, Brown above ; streaked 



or spotted throat. 



The Red-breasted _ Flycatcher — Dimensions, Ar ; Eggs, An — was first noticed in this 

 country in 1863, and since then there have been several records. The female has no grey in 

 her plumage. The nest is to be found on the shores of Lake Baikal. 



The Pied Flycatcher— Dimensions, Be ; Eggs, Cc — arrives annually in April, and leaves 

 in September. Its flight is not unlike that of the butterfly. It catches insects on the wing, 

 but, as a rule, picks them off the leaves, or lays in wait for them at the end of a bough and 

 darts down at them. Its song is short and weak, and rather like the Redstart's. The female 

 has no white on the forehead, and has brown where the male has black, and her inner 

 secondaries have thin white edges. The nest is generally in a hole in a tree — oak, birch, or 

 poplar for choice — but sometimes it is in a hole in a wall ; it is a loose collection of dead 

 leaves, moss, feathers, wool, and hair, and contains from five to eight eggs. 



The Spotted Flycatcher — Dimensions, Bl ; Eggs, Bt — is the common one in this country, 

 and stays here from the end of April to September. Its flight is low, jerky, and hovering, in 

 order that it may take its food on the wing. It has a feeble twittering song, and a call of 

 "chick, fee, chack, chack." The female has the male's winter plumage — grey above, and 

 ashy white below. ^ The small nest is about 10 feet from the ground, on almost anything that 

 will hold it, and it is neatly built of moss, dry grass, cobwebs, hair, and feathers j it contains 

 from four to six eggs. Just as Motacilla is the Latin for Wagtail so Muscicapa is the 

 Latin for Flycatcher. 



Neophron. Plate xiv. VUL TURIDM. 



172. percnopterus, 25 in, Egyptian Vulture. Plumage buffish white ; 



head and neck yellowish ; wings black and brown ; 



legs pinkish ; claws black. 



The Egyptian Vulture — Dimensions, Ri ; Eggs, Qj — has been shot on two occasions on 



British ground — once in Bridgewater Bay, in 1825 ; and once, 43 years afterwards, near 



Burnham-on-the-Crouch, 



