136 Binis, 



does not always run, he ceases eating, and rouses his attention to all ijounds. If, in 

 the course of an hour, or thereabouts, the man neither moves nor makes the least noise» 

 the animal may begin to feed again, but does not forget what he heard, and is for ma- 

 ny hours more vigilant than before." — Gosse's ^Canadian Naturalists^ p. 57. 



Enquiry respecting a Wagtail. When spending a few days lately 

 at a friend's house in Worcestershire, my attention was attracted by 

 the appearance of a yellow wagtail, which was a daily visitor on the 

 balcony of the drawing-room window. Never having before observed 

 a bird of this kind so familiar in its approach to a habitation, I was 

 told it had excited the attention of all the family, it having been in 

 the habit of frequenting the balcony during the greater part of the pre- 

 ceding summer, unattended by any mate; and what particularly ex- 

 cited curiosity was its darting against the window-panes, as if to peck 

 at some object, yet what this object might be, none had been able to 

 discover. It was not long ere I had an opportunity of witnessing this 

 action of the wagtail, for I was soon startled, whilst reading, by the 

 sharp peck against the window, and looking up, saw the elegant little 

 bird running along the rail of the balcony. 1 hastened to the window 

 and looked intently along the frame, but nothing could I see, being 

 winter, it is rare to see any insect in such a situation. The bird, on my 

 approach, flew off the rail, and I saw him alight on the gravel walk 

 below ; but scarcely had I resumed my book when he was at his for- 

 mer station, amusing himself on the rail, and occasionally darting sud- 

 denly against the window as before ; all attempts to discover the cause 

 of this were unsuccessful. This wagtail, like the rest of his conge- 

 ners, was extremely pretty and graceful in his motions, and peculiarly 

 elegant in form, far surpassing, in this respect, his relative the pied 

 wagtail, several of which latter species were to be seen, apparently his 

 associates, on the gravel walk, but closer observation showed they 

 were not to be considered his companions, since he evidently held 

 himself aloof from their society. The lady of the house informed me 

 that the yellow wagtail had first been noticed about the beginning of 

 last April, when it remained about six weeks ; it then disappeared for 

 a couple of months or more, and was again observed at its old station 

 early in September. I feel desirous of knowing to what species this 

 wagtail belongs : the doubt seems to lie between the common yellow, 

 called by Yavrell " Hay's wagtail," and the grey-headed wagtail, de- 

 scribed as a foreign bird, and only occasionally found in this country. 

 1 send the above details in the hope that some one of your correspon- 



