BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
or October for its winter-quarters in western Europe; 
but some stay with us throughout the winter. At this 
time they draw in from their more scattered breeding-places 
to the lower arable districts, and often take up their 
residence in the vicinity of some farm or dweUing-house. 
At the seasons of their migrations they are gregarious at 
roosting time, and I have often been astonished in April 
and October to see so many Pied Wagtails together at 
dusk, in the bulrushes round a pond known as the Bobie 
Loch at Capenoch (Keir). . 
This species has been noticed to take smaU trout at tne 
Solway Fisheries,* but its principal food consists of worms, 
slugs, insects and water-snails, and it is therefore most 
beneficial to agriculture. The following story Mr. R. 
Service assures me is perfectly authenticated: Mr 
McDuff, gardener at Kirkwood (Dalton), reports that a Pied 
Wagtail built a nest in an overhanging creeper in the 
conservatory in early May. The house being shut up 
closely at night the bird was then excluded. One morning 
McDuff found an egg on the doorstep. This he put mto the 
nest. The same thing happened on three subsequent 
mornings, and each egg was put into the nest. The bird 
then began to brood, and ultimately hatched and reared 
the lot." 
THE WHITE WAGTAIL. 
Motacilla alba alba, Linnaeus. 
A fairly regular vUiUnt in early spring. 
The White WagtaU is doubtless often overlooked on account 
of its similarity in appearance to the preceding species ; the 
adult male, however, may be easily distinguished from that 
of the Pied Wagtail by its slate-grey upper-parts and 
* Zoologist, 1898, p. 82. 
