.the beautiful garden at Mr. Dodd'» mill, affording the pair protection for many year»; further up the stream
at Elliot's mill, immediately above the charming Elizabethan Latimer». I noticed another pa.r, wh.ch
summered and doubtless bred there, but I did not succeed in finding the nest. It was truly picuimg to me
to see these elegant little birds suddenly piteh upon the gravct-walk before me, and nimbly esftd. fl.es for
their young. I may here remark that I never saw the Yellow .Wagtail in the Chen.es Valley, at (east never
near the water, a situation always resorted to by the present bird, while the P,p.t-hk| B u ty l'. love the more
dry and open '• campagoa,” the fields of wheat, or the buttercups ol the grass-helds. Mr. W. Jeffery. Jun.,
has recorded in the ‘Zoologist’ for 1867 several instances of the Grey Wagtail breedmg ... Sussex, and
mentions having found a nest and young in a sandbank by the side of a waterfall near Petworth.
“ During the last two months,” writes-Mr. Gatcombe in a letter dated Jane 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 Ernie 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 by the side of the 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, which 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 m the neighbourhood of
Plymouth during the last few years. A friend of mine tells me that at Kingsbridge, in Devonshire, a pa.r
have built their nest this season by the side of a mill, and that the birds, when flying m or out “I " . have to
dodge the water-wheel as it gdes round. I t would be interesting to observe bow the youngsters will make
their escape.” . " ' ____.
Macrillivray informs us that the flight of the Grey Wagtail “ is rapid and informed m large curves.
When alighting it spreads out its tail, displaying the lateral white feathers, which then become very
conspicuous; and when standing it vibrates its body continually, so that the tail, which it now and then
spreads 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 excarsion in pursuit
of them.”
The nest is usually placed on the ground, but 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 thet the birds have
sullicd-white throats, which feature may be characteristic of the old birds that have completed their winter
moult, or of young birds of the year. In September or October, and during the winter they may he seen
in this dress in all the southern portions of the British Islands, cither 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 .infrequently 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 ruuip and elegant contour contrast with the situation. Many persons when looking
at it believe that they see before them the migratory Field-Wagtail (BudytesJtaoa), 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 JlumatUis; the red-flowered one in the latter is the Polygonum ampAibium.