PIED WAGTAIL. 
103 
/ NSESSORES. MOT AC ILLI D/E. 
DENTIROSTRES. 
PIED WAGTAIL. 
Motacilla Yarrellii. 
PLATE XLI. FIGS. I. AND II. 
Although not at present prepared myself to adopt as 
distinct species the two Pied Wagtails of Mr. Gould, I 
have yet felt unwilling to reject the name proposed by 
him as a tribute to Mr. Yarrell, since it may yet he 
proved more satisfactorily that Mr. Gould’s species are 
more than varieties. I have, therefore, figured eggs of 
both birds, since they are believed by many Ornitholo¬ 
gists to be distinct. 
The Pied Wagtail builds its nest in the holes of 
walls, bridges, and out-houses, and on the broken banks 
of rivers upon the ground. Mr. Yarrell says that it is 
frequently fixed in the side of a woodstack or hayrick, 
and occasionally occupies a cavity in a peat stack, or 
wall of turf sod. 
Mr. Jesse mentions a remarkable instance of a bird of 
this species, which built its nest in one of the workshops 
belonging to Mr. Cox of Taunton, and, although the 
room was occupied by braziers, and the noise loud and 
incessant, yet in this strange place did the old birds per¬ 
severe in hatching their young ones. 
The nest of the Pied Wagtail is composed of roots and 
grasses, lined with finer roots and hair. 
The eggs, which are from four to five in number, vary 
m 2 
