76 The Wagtail. 



insects, gliding along with a smooth motion, accompanied by 

 the quick movement of head and tail. 



It is bitterly cold wintry weather as I write this, and they now 

 visit the kitchen door, where, no doubt, little delicacies of 

 various kinds attract them. They are more fearless and familiar 

 than either sparrows, robins, or blackbirds ; yet all of these are 

 our daily pensioners, having their breakfast of crumbs as 

 regularly before the parlour window as we have our own meal. 

 Yet they fly away at the slightest sound, and the appearance of 

 the cat disperses them altogether. They have, evidently, the 

 old ancestral fear of man, stamped, as powerfully as life itself, 

 upon their being. They are suspicious, and always in a flutter : 

 nothing equals the calm self-possession of the wagtail, excepting 

 it be the state of mind into which the robin gets when the 

 gardener is turning up the fresh soil, just on purpose, as he 

 supposes, to find worms for him. 



And now let me give you a wagtail picture, drawn by a 

 faithful hand.* It is the end of July, the young wagtails are 

 abroad with their parents, like human families, a month or two 

 later, gone out or abroad to take their holiday. " Often," he 

 says, " one may see them wading in shallow places, in quest of 

 insects and worms, carefulJry holding up their tails to prevent 

 them being draggled. If you watch the motions of an 

 individual just coming up to join the party, you see it alight 

 abruptly, twittering its shrill notes, and, perching on a small 

 stone, incessantly vibrate its body, and jerk out its tail." This 

 of course is the polite way in which a stranger wagtail introduces 



* " British Birds." 



