THE PIED WAGTAIL. 
217 
to ; but elsewhere, when winged insects are the objects of pur- 
suit, we may see them, not only run, but also leap and fly; 
in the last, they resemble the spotted fly-catcher, and I 
have seen them pursue insects through the air as far as that 
species. When this part is enacted above ponds, the bird is seen 
to particular advantage. The white feathers of the tail being ex- 
hibited in flight, add much to the beauty of this wagtaiks appear- 
ance. It is amusing to behold what appears to be its playfulness 
of manner towards other birds, and the reception this meets with. 
I have seen one fly out to sea after a ring plover ( Charadrius 
Hiaticula), and strike it several times, the latter exerting all its 
powers to avoid the wagtail, as if this species, not more than half its 
weight, were a bird of prey. Again, when one of these birds and a 
yellow bunting were feeding near to each other, the wagtail gave 
chase to the latter, and after taking many turns, through all which 
they maintained a regular distance of about a foot from each other, 
they alighted peaceably on the same stone ; the chase thus seem- 
ing to have been undertaken for mere diversion. On another oc- 
casion, I remarked a pair of wagtails pursue, to its great annoyance, 
a poor bat ( Vesper tilio Pipistrettus) that untowardly appeared 
during one of the dark days of December (9th, 1832). Some 
little impertinence had probably been shown by one of these birds 
to a swallow, which I saw fiercely pursue it uttering the loudest 
cries all the time : they flew very near to me, the swallow bearing 
down upon the wagtail and almost touching it, when they dis- 
appeared from my sight. 
Throughout the month of September, 1842, this species was 
common among the gravelly beds of rivers, in the district of Aber- 
arder, Inverness-shire. In the latter half of September, 1843, 
which I spent with a friend living on the banks of the Dhuisk 
river, in Ayr-shire, they were more common about the dwelling- 
house, than I had ever before seen them at a house of any 
kind, several being always perched on the window-sills, tempted 
doubtless by the flies, which frequent such places. Their un- 
usual numbers may be attributed to the circumstance of the 
house being situated near a gravelly river. 
