72 
Wild Birds Useful and Injurious. 
weed. In autumn these birds flock together, and perhaps a score 
may be seen enlivening the scene at the same time ; and at dusk 
the angler may notice small parties of them retiring to roost in 
the bushes which fringe the stream. There is a closely allied 
species, the White Wagtail ( Motacilla alba), but in appearance 
and habits it is so like the commoner bird, with which it has been 
known to interbreed, that it is only necessary to allude to it here. 
The Yellow Wagtail (. Motacilla rail), so well known as a 
summer visitor to our fields, where it often attracts attention by 
following cattle for the sake of the insects they disturb, and the 
Grey Wagtail ( Motacilla sulphur ea), with its sulphur-yellow 
Fig. 7. — Tree Pipit, Anthus trivialis. 
breast, the most graceful of a graceful race, which in the breed- 
ing season is chiefly found by the side of rocky streams, also 
devote their energies chiefly to the discovery of small snails, flies, 
and other insect prey. 
Pipits. 
The pipits, though lacking the bright plumage and length 
of tail which characterise the wagtails, nevertheless have many 
points in common with them. The two well-known species, the 
Tree Pipit ( Anthus trivialis , fig. 7) and the Meadow Pipit (Anthus 
ptratensis), Moss-cheaper, Lingbird, or Teetick, are sufficiently 
distinct in their habits, but from the similarity of their plumage 
