Birds. 5317 



flitting to and fro, and occasionally stopping to take a bath in the far 

 from inviting-looking water. I frequently also saw them perched on 

 the roofs of many of the houses, and the church-leads were always 

 occupied by four or five, who appeared to live in the greatest harmony 

 with the sparrows and martins. I invariably, however, observed them 

 in greatest abundance in the large open fields of barley (the chief 

 haunt also of the ortolan bunting), at a considerable distance from any 

 water. From their movements and cries I am convinced that many 

 of them had nests with young (the time of which I speak was the 

 second week in August) in these very fields, and as the ground was a 

 dead level, the nests must have been placed, like those of the larks 

 and buntings, under the shelter of some clod of earth, &c. Now it is 

 well known that our own Ray's wagtail will frequently build in a 

 similar situation, and possibly the pied wagtail also ; but this pecu- 

 liarity has never, to my knowledge, been previously remarked in 

 M. alba. I questioned the country people on this point, and their 

 evidence concurred with the notion I had formed ; in fact, I feel con- 

 vinced that, were proper search made in the breeding-season, more 

 nests of this species would be found in the open fields than in any 

 other locality. I had not time to make a protracted search for the 

 nests, and I regretted this the more because the discovery even of a 

 single one in such a locality would have gone far to prove that it was 

 the situation most frequently chosen ; and although I am satisfied, 

 beyond a shadow of doubt, that the nests did exist, yet, as they 

 remained undiscovered, the chain of evidence rests incomplete. I am 

 in great hope, however, that as British naturalists who devote them- 

 selves especially to the study of Oology are becoming annually more 

 numerous and persevering in their Continental investigations, this 

 point and many others connected with the Motacillidas will be soon 

 satisfactorily explained. No family of birds demand more attention 

 than the wagtails : I feel sure that our five British species are by no 

 means properly understood, and if the labours of future ornithologists 

 were to bring to light the fact of our possessing more species than is 

 at present supposed, it would be the realization of an idea which I 

 have formed since I have had so many opportunities of observing 

 these beautiful and interesting birds in Germany. 



The Pied Wagtail also occurred in the neighbourhood of Griez, 

 but, compared with M. alba, was rare, and appeared confined to a 

 particular locality : the last-named species is doubtless double- 

 brooded, for early in August there were plenty of young birds able 

 to take care of themselves. 



