MOTACILLA. 
if he did not come out dire&ly, flie went in and drove 
him off; for I never faw them both fit together, not even 
in the night; at leaft, however late I might flay at my 
poft, I never faw the male enter with his female at thofe 
times, but fhe kept her poll the whole night. While the 
female fat on the eggs during the day, the male, on a 
neighbouring bufli, kept cheering her with his fong; if 
any ftranger came into the garden, or even one of my 
dogs, the female was prefently informed of it by a pier¬ 
cing cry from the male, which made her as fuddenly pop 
out of the neft, but fhe went in again as foon as the dan¬ 
ger was paft. But my appearance in the garden never 
caufed any alarm. I obferved that the mafe palfed the 
night on a neighbouringbranch, no doubt to guard againft 
any thing that might alarm the female or injure the 
brood ; and, if any fright occafioned her to quit the eggs, 
it was never for more than four or five minutes at a time. 
During the time of incubation, the male frequently made 
advances, but the female would never admit his em¬ 
braces ; fhe continued, however, to lay eggs after this, 
but always out of the neft and upon the ground; and 
what furprifed me, as foon as fhe had laid one, fhe called 
the male, and they both fet about breaking it to pieces 
with their bills, after which they devoured the yolk. At 
length, on the 7th of November, on the fourteenth day 
of incubation, at feven in the morning, which was my 
firft vifit, I found four young, which probably had been 
hatched in the night; three hours after, that is, at ten 
o’clock, the other three had made their appearance. The 
young were hatched entirely bare of feathers, and their 
eyes were clofed. 
“ The mother remained over the young during the 
whole of the firft day, and did not feed them till evening. 
She cleared the neft of the egg-fhells, throwing them out 
by degrees as the three Iaft came forth. The fecond day, 
the father and mother brought food to the young ones 
feveral times, and the neft was not left vacant a moment. 
On the third day, the top of the head, the wings, back, 
and rump, of the young birds, were covered with dow'n 
of a brownifh colour, and their eyes were half opened ; 
on the fourth day, their eyes were nearly open, and that 
fame evening entirely fo. On the fifth, the wing and tail 
feathers began to rife a line or two, and thofe alfo of the 
rump and fides, whofe tubes or quills were now vifible. 
They now began to require a- good deal of food. The 
fixth day I fpent entirely in watching the neft; and had 
my dinner brought to me, that I might not lole fight of 
it for a moment. Between feven and ten in the morning, 
the father and mother had made fifty-three journeys, 
bringing each time little green caterpillars, fpiders, and 
ant-eggs. Towards noon they made nineteen journeys ; 
but from three o’clock till funfet the number of their 
journeys amounted to fixty-fix. On the eighth day, the 
wing and tail feathers, and the plumage of the upper fur- 
face of the^body, and of the belly, were fo complete, that 
thefkin was now vifible only on the lower belly. On the 
tenth, eleventh, and twelfth, days, they required fo much 
food, that the old ones did nothing but fly backwards 
and forwards in queft of it; on the eleventh, which I de¬ 
voted entirely to them, thefe poor birds made 200 jour¬ 
neys ; but what is remarkable, I never obferved that they 
brought any drink. But, as both male and female went 
quite into the neft to feed the young, it may be laid that 
I could not fee whether they gave them water or not; 
yet, as I never faw them return without bringing food in 
their mouth, it is certain that they never went to fetch 
water only; and I cannot doubt but, if the little ones 
had had need of drink, the father and mother would have 
made journeys on purpofe. On the fifteenth day, when I 
came to pay my morning-vifit, I found that three of the 
young birds had quitted the neft. To bring them to this, 
the father and mother no longer went in to feed, but called 
them out; fo that hunger brought them out one after 
the other. At noon the neft was empty and abandoned ; 
She young ones got among the hedges and under leaves in 
88 
the garden, where I faw the old ones carry them food for 
feveral days, after which they formed a flock, and lived 
all together in the moft perfedt harmony. The old ones 
did not fail to ftiow the new brood the way into the 
houfe, where they often came to forage as their parents 
had fo fuccefsfully done. On quitting the neft, the 
young were brown on the upper furface, each feather 
edged with rufous; and the under parts of the body yel- 
lowilh white. 
“ From the obfervations I have detailed, which I pledge 
myfeif are correft, it appears, that thefe birds are fix or 
leven days building their neft, that they fit thirteen or 
fourteen, and that the young in about the lame fpace are 
ready to quit the neft. I expedled that the little family 
would return to their neft at night; but I was deceived ; 
they came back no more. Finding this, I took the neft 
away, and cut it quite through longitudinally, in order 
to examine it minutely, and find all its dimenfions, which 
I have given above. I found many of thele nefts in my 
travels 5 they were all alike, but more or lefs white, from 
the nature or tint of the cottony down which had been 
ufed in their conftru&ion.” 
The female is of a red-brown on the upper furface, yel- 
lowilh-white underneath ; the tail is long and taper; bill 
brown, legs and feet red. The male is lomewbar larger ; 
his body is of a more decided brown, and on his breaft 
and front of his neck are feme fpots of a lengthened form 
along the middle of each feather. The eyes in both fexes 
are light brown. This lpecies inhabits not only the en¬ 
virons of the Cape, but many other diftridfs, especially 
the eaft coaft and the borders of the Sondag and Swart- 
kop. The laying is from five eggs to eight. The eggs 
of the crefted cuckow are often found in thele nefts, which 
is very remarkable; for that bird, being very little lefs 
than the European cuckow, could never get into the neft 
to lay an egg. This curious neft, and the female bird, 
are copied from Vaillant on the annexed Plate III. 
36. Motacilla Novaeboracenfis, theNew-York warbler: 
fize of the tit-lark ; bill black, and bent towards the tip j 
all the upper parts are cinereous and deep brown mixed ; 
over the eye, from the noftrils, a ftreak of white; the 
under parts yellawilh, ftreaked with black ; the ftreaks 
broadefton the fides and breaft, nearly refembling the tit¬ 
lark : legs pale reddifh brown. Inhabits New York and 
Louifiana. 
37. Motacilla umbria, the umbrofe warbler: upper 
parts grey brown : beneath white, with a few black lpots; 
back with dulky fpots; rump yellowilh; wing-coverts, 
tail-feathers, and upper coverts, black, edged with white 5 
bill black; greater quill-feathers and legs blackilh ; five 
inches and a half long. Inhabits Louifiana. 
38. Motacilla flavicollis, the yellow-throated warbler: 
five inches and a quarter long: above grey; beneath 
white ; throat pale yellow ; front, eyebrows, and fides of 
the neck, black ; wings with a double white band; tail- 
feathers black, lateral ones white on the inner fide ; bill 
black with a yellow fpot each fide the bafe; legs brown. 
Inhabits Carolina. 
39. Motacilla aurata, the golden-necked wagtail: fize 
of the nightingale ; but refembles the preceding. Judg¬ 
ing from a diftedlion of the throat, Vaillant fuppofes it to 
have a fine voice ; but as he met with it in the rainy fea- 
fon at the Cape, when moft of the warblers "of that coun¬ 
try are mute, he was not able to afeertain the fa< 5 t. The 
plumage of this bird would be very dull and uniform 
were it not enlivened by a beautiful plate of gold-yellow 
which covers the throat and part of the front of the neck ; 
the breaft and reft of the under part of the body pure 
white. A fainter yellow forms an edging to the lateral 
tail-feathers, and appears on the middle of the firft wing- 
quills, and at the edges of the great coverts. A yellow 
mark, as deep as that on the breaft, goes round the fore¬ 
head above the eyes. The upper furface, including head, 
wings, and tail, is of a light brown colour; bill, feet, and 
nails, black; eyes reddilh. The female refembles the 
male. 
