1NSESSORES. MOTACILLIDÆ.
DENTIROSTRES.
Ag-tes ' ' ' j ^ m U Ê Ê aWÈ m X Ê l f
TH E GREY WAGTAIL.
Motacilla boarula, Grey Wagtail, P enn. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 492.
99 99
,, ,, Mont. Ornith. Diet.
jj ,, Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 233.
,, ,, F lem. Brit. An. p. 74.
s y y, Selby, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 253.
33 33 J enyns, Brit. Vert. p. 115.
S3 S3 Gould, Birds of Europe, pt.. i.
Bergeronnette jaune, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. i. p. 257.
T he habits of the Grey Wagtail are in many respects
very similar to those of the Pied Wagtail, last described;
but, as a species, it is far less numerous, and with some exceptions,
to be hereafter noticed, it may be generally considered
in this country as a summer visiter to the more
northern counties, migrating in autumn to become a winter
visiter in those of the south ; these changes of locality being
generally made in September and April. It is even rather
more an aquatic bird than our Pied Wagtail, being seldom
seen except about marshes and water meadows, or on the
banks or sides of streams. In such situations, and somewhat
solitary in their habits, a pair of Grey Wagtails may be seen,
shifting from place to place with undulating flight, or running
with rapid steps along the margin of, and sometimes
wading in, the shallow water in search of various insects,
and are known to avail themselves of one very numerous
species of fresh-water bivalve, Cyclas cornea of Dr. Turton,
as food. These birds have also been observed to run upon
the tops of the weeds, which are partly submerged in the
ditches, and probably feed upon the various species of water-
beetles, Dyticus and Gyrinus, which are almost always to
be found in those situations.
The nest of this bird is placed on the ground, seldom very
distant from the stream it frequents, and generally on some
rugged part of its banks, the inequalities of the ground
affording concealment. The structure of the nest is similar
to that of the Pied Wagtail, last noticed, being formed of
fibrous roots and moss, lined with wool, hair, or feathers.
The eggs are from five to six in number, yellowish white,
mottled with pale brown, varying sometimes in the depth of
the tin t; the eggs are about eight lines and a half in length,
and seven lines in breadth. Mr. Selby has observed that
these birds produce two broods in the season, the first of
which is generally fledged by the end of May. The young
birds, till late in autumn, may be frequently seen in company
with their parents.
In the counties around London, the Grey Wagtail is a
winter visiter ; but Mr. Blyth has recorded that he “ once
observed a pair of them upon Penge Common in Kent, at
2 b 2