44 MEADOW PIPIT 
preening its feathers’; and on the 19th May in the same 
year he observed ‘three young birds, just out of the nest, 
being tended by the male parent, which had brought them 
food in his beak.’ ‘These, Mr. Graves adds, ‘were on the 
rocks just below the fall in Glen Meay, and could not have 
been far away from the nest. This is an ideal nesting 
place for the species. Very beautiful they all looked, their 
clear bright colours standing out well against the dark rock. 
I remained for some time watching them, and although the 
tails of the young were quite short, they were able to fly 
well.’ 
In Britain the Grey Wagtail is a local, and never 
numerous, bird, breeding mostly in the hilly districts. In 
Ireland it is widely spread, though not abundant. It breeds 
on the mountain streams of all the districts nearest us in 
that country, Scotland, and England. Mr. Aplin saw one 
or two pairs only in Lleyn in summer, and a few in winter ; 
it is apparently scarce in Anglesea. It has seldom been 
recorded in the Outer Hebrides, but breeds in Orkney, and 
in Shetland it is a scarce bird of passage. 
ANTHUS PRATENSIS (Linn.). MEADOW 
Pit, 
Manx, *7weet, *Billy-yn-tweet, *Ushag-veet, *Ushag-y-veet, 
*Cheet or Chit-veg (names expressing the note). 
This is one of the very common and familiar birds of 
the island, abundant on every bit of grassy waste, and in 
summer at least extending up to or nearly to its very 
highest ground; on the mountain-land it is often the only 
species met with over miles of country. On the selvages 
of the coast its domain overlaps that of the Rock Pipit. It 
