the beautiful garden at Mr. Dodd’s mill, affording the pair protection for many years ; further up the stream, 
at Elliot’s mill, immediately above the charming Elizabethan Latimers, I noticed another pair, which 
summered and doubtless bred there, but I did not succeed in finding the nest. It was truly pleasing to me 
to see these elegant little birds suddenly pitch upon the gravel-walk before me, and nimbly catch flies for 
their young. I may here remark that I never saw the Yellow Wagtail in the Chenles Valley, at least never 
near the water, a situation always resorted to by the present bird, while the Pipit-like Budytes love the more 
dry and open “ campagna,” the fields of wheat, or the buttercups of the grass-fields. Mr. W. Jeffery, Jun., 
has recorded in the ‘ Zoologist ’ for 1867 several instances of the Grey Wagtail breeding in Sussex, and 
mentions having found a nest and young in a sandbank hy the side of a waterfall near Petworth. 
“ During the last two months,” wTites Mr. Gatcomhe in a letter dated June 15, 1863, “ I have frequently 
visited our trout-streams, and thus have had ample opportunities for observing the Grey Wagtail, pairs of 
which were building on or near the banks of the under-mentioned rivers — the Plym, Yealm, and Erme in 
Devonshire, and the Notter in Cornwall. In two instances I was successful in finding a nest and young ; 
one of these would have formed a beautiful and Interesting object for your pencil. It was placed on a kind 
of shelf on the face of a slate rock hy the side of tbe river Plym, and was shaded by the overhanging leaves 
of a Foxglove in full bloom, by the stem of which one side of the nest was supported. It was full of young 
nearly able to fly, whicb stared most intently at me with their beautiful bright dark eyes in silent 
wonderment, while I made a hasty sketch of the interesting little group. I did not disturb the nest in 
either Instance. I may add that this bird has greatly increased in numbers in the neighbourhood of 
Plymouth during the last few years. A friend of mine tells me that at Kingsbridge, in Devonshire, a pair- 
have built their nest this season by the side of a mill, and that the birds, when flying in or out of it, have to 
dodge the water-wheel as it goes round. It would be interesting to observe how the youngsters will make 
their escape.” 
Macgillivray Informs us that the flight of the Grey Wagtail “ is rapid and performed in large curves. 
When alighting it spreads out its tail, displaying the lateral white feather-s, which then become very 
conspicuous ; and when standing it vibrates its body continually, so that the tail, which it now and therr 
spi-eads by a sudden jerk, is always in motion. It is very lively and active, walks in the prettiest manner 
imaginable, moving its head backward and forward at each step, runs with great speed, and, although not 
very shy, is not Insensible to danger from the proximity of man. Its food consists of insects of various 
kinds, which it usually picks from the ground, although it often performs a short aerial excursion in pursuit 
of them.” 
The nest is usually placed on the ground, hut is sometimes found in a hole in a bank or a wall, or between 
large stones. It is composed of stems and blades of dry grass, moss, and wool, and lined with wool, hair, 
and feathers. The eggs are greyish white, faintly spotted all over with greyish brown. 
I have been constrained to give two illustrations of this favourite bird, in order to show the difference in 
the colouring of its plumage in summer and winter. In the second Plate it will be seen that the birds have 
sullied-white throats, which feature may be characteristic of the old birds that have completed their winter 
moult, or of young birds of tbe year. In September or October, and during the winter they may be seen 
in this dress in all the southern portions of the British Islands, either gaily jerking their great tail on the 
top of a stone on the gravelly strand of a river, or the beams of a lock or weir, not unfrequently searching 
for Insects in the little rills of water which feed our Thames, or the sewage from the houses situated on the 
banks of the river, the blackest and filthiest spot being most generally selected ; and strikingly does this 
bird with its grey yellow rump and elegant contour contrast with the situation. Many persons when looking 
at it believe that they see before them the migratory Field-Wagtail (Budytes Jlavd), forgetting that that 
bird at this season is far beyond the seas, in the genial climate of Africa. 
The first Plate represents a male and female in their summer dress, and two young birds, of the natural 
size. The second Plate represents the bird in the autumnal and winter plumage ; the white-flowered plant 
in the former is the Ranunculus flumatUis ; the red-flowered one in the latter is the Polygomm ampMbium. 
