110 Lhe Pred Wagtarl. 
where they rid the cattle of their tormentors. The 
young of this bird are always fed by the parent birds 
long after they have left the nest—not that the young 
depend upon the kindness of their parents; but it 
seems to be done through love, for when the old bird 
catches an insect of better properties than the majority 
around, it seems delighted to give it to one of its 
young ; and, when this is done, it takes a short flight, 
hovering round the place where its family is, and at 
the same time uttering its call-note repeatedly, as if 
much pleased at the scene below. | 
These birds, for the most part, migrate southward, 
and in winter are to be found in our midland counties 
in greater numbers than farther north. At this time 
of the year they frequent homesteads and unfrozen 
brooks, where water is not the most pure; stagnant: 
waters, where gnats are often seen late in the season, 
are also favourite places for these birds, 
In April the Pied Wagtail makes its nest, which is 
to be found in ivy around cottages or barns; also it 
often builds on the sides of banks near streams, or 
places’ its nest between stones on the top of such 
