124 Messrs. H. Seebohm and J . A. Harvie Brown on 
The Yellow-beaded Wagtail's favourite haunts are the opens 
in the willow-thickets; and in such localities they literally 
swarm and are excessively tame. They perch on the tops of 
the bushes, often sitting in a peculiar bunched-up position, 
fly round an intruder in circles, or hover overhead, much after 
the manner of the other Wagtails or Pipits, and utter their 
monotonous chirping note, which, when often repeated, runs 
into a confused song. As many as a dozen were sometimes 
in the air at one time, above and around us. They often 
came from a distance towards us and followed us, accom¬ 
panying us off their premises, until relieved by a fresh relay. 
Their general habits closely resemble those of the last species. 
The nests are carefully concealed amongst the tangled grass 
and wild flowers, which usually cover the dryer open spaces, 
and are composed of fine grasses, lined with reindeeris hair 
and roots or fibres. One we examined, whether by accident 
or design, contained two PintaiPs feathers and one spray of 
Duck’s down. The nests are difficult to find, owing to the 
males giving the females early warning of the approach of 
danger, and the above-mentioned habit of flying overhead 
and constantly uttering their alarm-notes and perseveringly 
convoying the intruder as long as he is in the vicinity, in 
which the females also take part. The thick nature of the 
undergrowth makes it a difficult matter to watch the female 
to the nest. At the distance of a few yards it would be almost 
impossible. The eggs closely resemble the eggs of other 
Wagtails of the Budytes group. 
Concerning the migration of this species on the Kama 
river and near Kasan, the editors of the “ Descriptive Cata¬ 
logues of the High School of the Imperial University of 
Kasan 99 inform us that it arrives there when the other Wag¬ 
tails have young, about the middle of April, and that a few 
pairs are seen as late as the beginning of June (new style). 
The migratory flocks in all probability pass on down the river 
Petchora from the head-waters of the Kama as far as Ust 
Ussa, then, leaving the banks of the river and crossing over 
the intervening country, reach it again somewhere north of 
Ust Zylma, the neighbourhood of which town they do not 
