MOTACILLA. 
329 
which had been confined for three years, hatched a brood of young-. He 
also says, they have bred in the menag-erie of the Duchess Dowag-er of 
Portland. 
As a further and more recent proof that this bird will breed in con- 
finement, Lord Stanley assures us that a pair of g-rous, which had been 
confined two years by a person who paid little attention to them, had 
produced many eg-gs. This circumstance made his Lordship desirous 
to obtain the birds, in which he succeeded, and in 1811 the female laid 
ten eggs, which she incubated, and brought out eight young. These 
infant birds, from some unknown cause, probably a defect of natural 
food at that tender age, did not live many days. The old birds feed 
on grain and oatmeal, like others of the gallinaceous tribe. They were 
remarkably shy, and as little disturbed as possible, in order to induce 
them to breed again. If ants’ eggs, grasshoppers, and other insects, 
cannot be procured in sufficient abundance, alum-curd, or hard-boiled 
egg, as animal food, is perhaps as good a substitute for insects as can 
be administered, and we recommend it to all persons who wish to rear 
any young birds of a similar nature. But if grasshoppers can be ob- 
tained, they are eagerly devoured, and for the first month the best 
food that can be given. 
A mottled brown and white variety, very much resembling the sum- 
mer plumage of the ptarmigan, was shot in Lancashire, in the month 
of August, by Lord Stanley. And several other varieties are men- 
tioned by Selby, of a cream or light grey colour, more or less spotted 
with dark brown and black. 
This species is more of a true ancient Briton than any other of 
which we can boast, and as such it ought to be protected and revered ; 
for, strange as it may seem, it does not appear to have found its way 
to any other part of the world, but is exclusively of British origin, and 
continues wholly attached to the British Empire. Inhabiting the most 
dreary and inhospitable parts of the three United Kingdoms, contented 
with the native produce of such uncultivated regions, it never by choice 
approaches the habitation of man, to riot in the fruits of his labour. 
It has not even extended into the Shetland island, but has reached the 
Orkneys, its utmost extent northwards.* 
MOOR TITLING. — A name for the Chickstone. 
MORILLON. — A name for the Golden-Eye. 
MORROT. — A name for the Guillemot. 
MOTACILLA (Latham.) — * Wagtail, a genus thus characterised. 
Bill slender, straight, awl-shaped, keeled, notched, and describing an 
angle upon the forehead ; cutting edges {tomia^ of both mandibles 
