142 WILD LIFE IN CHINA. 



little te-weet, and then down again within ten yards or so of 

 their enemy. She, seeming to realize that she was being 

 made a fool of, gave up the chase, rolled over once or twice 

 nonchalantly as though to make it appear that her object, 

 too, was mere sport, and then quietly walked off. 



These were a pair of pied wagtails, one of the common 

 kinds here during the winter. Their family title Motacilla, 

 is merely Latin for the English name, but there is so much 

 difference of opinion amongst authorities respecting the 

 qualifying adjective attached to the various species, 

 that I prefer in this chapter to refer to the birds simply by 

 their English descriptions. "Polly wash-dish" is the Dorset 

 name for this familiar little bird, and "dish-wash," "washer- 

 woman" or something of the kind seems to be a common 

 name for it in other countries as well. This is probably due 

 to its habit of wading in shallow water for the purpose of 

 capturing tiny fish, tad-poles, water molluscs, and the like. 

 Washerwomen in Europe used to stand, and in some 

 countries do still, in the water for the purpose of cleansing 

 clothing on a stone as we formerly saw our own washermen 

 doing here in the filthy creeks around Shanghai. On land the 

 nimble wagtail is a splendid runner. He doesn't hop as though 

 on a pair of wooden legs as the sparrow does. For his size, I 

 am inclined to think the wagtail more than a match for the 

 pheasant so far as pedestrian powers are concerned. 



He is a beautifully marked little creature though dressed 

 in naught but black, white, and grey, and his clothes fit him 

 like a glove. There are no loose ends about him. Everything 

 is spick and span. His tail, whose balancing feats give him his 

 common name, moves as though it were composed of one 

 feather instead of twelve. A very near relative, so near that 

 some people still think it a mere variety, is the so-called white 

 wagtail. Its main difference lies in the greater proportion 

 of lighter colour; habits, method of flight, and other things 

 being practically identical. Around Shanghai we have during 

 the colder months two or three species with a great deal of 

 yellow in their plumage. These are, perhaps, slightly smaller 

 than the common pied kind. What is called the grey wagtail 

 in England is principally distinguished from the two before- 

 mentioned by its yellow under parts. Its wings are dark, its 

 tail black and white, and its gorget also black. But its head 

 and the upper part of its back are of a bluish grey. It 

 exhibits on the wing all the undulatory graces common to 

 the genus. So quick are most of the wagtails that they 

 frequently use their powers of flight for the capture of their 

 prey. The yellow wagtail is entirely of the golden tint with 

 the exception of the wings and tail. These, as in the others, 

 are black with a white admixture. Still another, sometimes 



