446 
NESTS OF THE WAdTAIL. 
the kine pasture. His nest he builds 
in any convenient chink or cranny — in 
the crevice of a wall, in a hole in the 
ground, under the roots of a tree, in the 
" wood pile," or a hollow trunk. The 
bottom is composed oA-oots, twigs, dry 
leaves, mosses, bits of straw ; on this is 
laid a second course of long grasses, and 
the finer straws and fibrous roots ; the 
whole being lined with hair, wool, horse- 
hair, lichens, shreds of cotton, and similar 
materials, which are fitted together with 
much neatness, and form a soft and com- 
fortable substance. 
Akin to the true wagtail is the 
swaUow-wagtail (Enicurus) of the hill- 
countries of India and Malaysia. He 
differs from our British favourite in 
being of a more robust build, while he 
has a stronger bill, shorter and rounder 
wings, and thicker tarsi. He frequents 
the mountain-heights, where the stream 
falls from ledge to ledge with a 
murmur and a sparkle, and in the 
immediate vicinity of the stream he 
constructs his nest. That is, he 
seeks out a depression in the soil, 
or a cleft in the rocks, or a thick 
tuft of moss, and in the conceal- 
ment this affords he piles up a little 
hemisphere of dried mosses, which 
he lines with dry leaves, or rather 
withleaves that have rotted through 
damp, until only their framework or skeleton remains. Leaves 
SWALLOWWAOTAII,. 
in this 
