BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 45 
*' dykes " often afford a secure nesting-site. Mr. Robert 
Martin tells me he once found a nest at Dardarroch (Glen- 
cairn) on the ground below a stone. In May, 1905, a Tree- 
Creeper nested behind a loose board at the side of a window 
of an outhouse which was in daily use. It was noticed 
that the eggs took thirteen days to hatch, and it was eight 
days more before the nesthngs left the nest. 
Mr. R. Service informs me of a bird of this species found 
tapping against a lighted window of Nithmount House 
(Dumfries) at midnight on October 10th, 1907, and he thinks 
that this bird may possibly have been a migrant ; but the 
Tree-Creeper, although known to be subject to local winter- 
movements, is one of those few birds as to which no 
evidence exists of a regular migration, and I believe there 
is no record of the occurrence anywhere in the British 
Isles of any form other than our British bird, which is 
more rufescent in the colour of its upper surface than its 
continental representatives. 
THE PIED WAGTAIL. 
Motacilla alba luguhris, Temminck. 
Local names — Water- Wagtail ; Wullie Wagtail ; Grey 
Wagtail. 
" Along the shingly shallows of the bum. 
The smallest bird that walks, and does not hop 
How fast yon Wagtail runs ; its little feet 
Quick as a mouse's ! Thus its shaking tail 
Is kept in even balance, poised, and straight. . , . 
. . . Aloft in air, each chirrup keeping time 
With each successive undulation long, 
The Wagtail flies, a pleasant summer bird." 
Thomas Aird. — " A Summer Day'' 
A common summer-visitant, nesting throughout the arable and lower 
pastoral districts. A few are seen throughout the winter. 
The Pied Wagtail arrives here towards the end of March 
or beginning of April, and leaves us again about September 
