316 FIPITS. 
retires to the southern counties during the winter, as it would othewise be 
unable ta obtain its food. . 
The nest of the Wagtail is generally placed at no great distance from water, 
and is always built in some retired situation. Holes in walls, the hollows 
of aged trees, or niches in old gravel-pits are favourite localities with this bird. 
Heaps of large stones are also in great favour with the Wagtail, and I have 
generally found that wheres er a pile of rough stones has remained for some time 
in the vicinity of water, a Wagtail’s nest is almost invariably somewhere with- 
init. I have also found the nest in heaps of dry brushwood piled up for the 
purpose of being cut into faggots. In every case the nest is placed at a con- 
siderable depth. The eggs are generally four or five in number, and their 
colour is grey-white, speckled with a great number of very small brown spots, 
The colouring of the Pied Wagtail is almost entirely b ack and white, very 
boldly disposed and distributed as follows. The top of the head, the nape 
of the neck, part of the shoulders, the chin, neck, and throat, are jetty black, 
contrasting boldly with the pure snowy white of the sides of the face and the 
white patch on the sides of the neck. The upper tail-coverts and the coverts 
of the wings are also black. The quill feathers of the wings are black, edged 
on the outer web with a lighter 
hue. The two exterior feathers 
of the tail are pure white, edged 
on the inner web with white, and 
the remainder jetty black. The 
under parts of the body are grey- 
ish white, taking a blue tint upon 
the flanks. The entire length of 
the bird is between seven and 
eightinches. This is the summer 
plumage of the male bird. In 
the winter the chin and throat 
exchange their jetty hue for a 
pure white, leaving only a collar 
PIED WAGTAIL.—(Motacilla Yarrellit.) lice aepehion emann epee rd 
in the general colouring of her 
plumage, but is about half an inch shorter. 
The PIPITS, or TITLARKS as they are sometimes called, form a well- 
marked group, which possesses the long hind toe of the hawk, together with 
very similar plumage, and also bears the long tail which is found in the 
Wagtaiis Several species of Pipit inhabit England. 
The best-known is the common MEaAbDow PIPIT, or MEADOW TITLING, a 
bird which may be seen throughout the year upon moors, waste lands, and 
marshy ground, changing its locality according to the season of year. It 1s 
a pretty though rather sombre little bird, and is quick and active in its more- 
ments, often jerking its long tail in a fashion that reminds the observer of 
the Wagtail’s habits. It moves with considerable celerity, tripping over the 
rough and rocky ground which it frequents, and picking up insects with the 
stroke of its unerring beak. Its food, however, is of a mixed description, as 
in the crops of several individuals were found seeds, insect and water-shells, 
some of the latter being entire. 
The nest of this species is placed on the ground, and generally hidden in 
a large grass-tuft. 
THE very large family of the THRUSHES now engages our attention. 
Many of these birds are renowned for their song, and some of them are 
remarkable for their imitative power., 
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