those merry graceful birds, the Wagtails. Now we see them peering down among the leaves of the water-flowers, or wading into the stream itself, and seizing the slugs and shell-fish which lie hidden there, or the beautiful winged creatures resting for a moment upon them; or devouring the larvæ of some, which if left untouched, would soon be rising on wings of azure and gold. These birds are most delicately formed, with slender bodies and equally slender feet, their small heads terminated by exquisitely moulded bills, and their long wellbalanced tails moving up and down perpetually. The merry wagtails, or dishwashers, as country people call them, may be easily distinguished from any other birds, for none of our wood or streamside minstrels at all resemble them in form, or in the black and white plumage which is so conspicuous even at a distance in the commoner species.

The Pied Wagtail* (Motacilla Yarrellii), might, for some of its habits, be almost classed with the

The Pied Wagtail is seven inches and a half in length. The ground colour is black; but the forehead, the sides of the head and of the neck, the edges of the wing-coverts, and of the tertials, the outer tail-feathers, and the belly, are white. These are the hues of spring; but in winter the back becomes grey, and the chin and throat are white; the beak and feet are black.

waders, for it will remain in the shallow water for ten minutes at a time, walking along in pursuit of spiders and other insects. Sometimes it may be seen thus employed at the edge of the rivulet, or running along over the lawn of the garden, or on the meadow land; or making a short and sudden flight, with its tail outspread like a broad oar, and sailing about in the air with most gracefulevolutions. It is no wonder that the birds have the popular name of wagtail, for this tail of theirs seems in incessant motion, vibrating not only in its flat and oar-like state during flight, but also quivering perpetually when raised in a perpendicular direction, as the lively creature runs along the ground. The French call these birds les lavandières, for they are often the constant companions of the washerwomen, who in France assemble by the sides of rivers to perform their occupations, and whose operation of beating the linen the wagtails seem to imitate by the movements of their tails. The birds seem, indeed, at all times perfect types of symmetry and glee, running with delight into the water, waging perpetual war with the insect race, and, during the period when their young demand food, requiring no small number to provide

for their eager voracity. Nor do the parent birds themselves find a few sufficient for their supply, for they devour them with insatiable earnestness; and as they jerk about in the air after the gnats, or run pecking over the ground, their lively shrill notes of "guit, guit, guit, guit," have a sound which accords well with their active motions.

The pied wagtail seems fond of the companionship of man, often keeping near the labourer in the fields, and seeming far less fearful of him than of the bird of prey. It will run by the cattle, and look well into the broad furrows which the passing ploughshare leaves in the field, making successive leaps as it follows this; rising in the air considerably at the beginning of each effort, and sinking again at the close; swallowing a number of insects, which the ploughman turns up in his course, taking them more frequently from the ground than during flight. Mr. Yarrell quotes a letter from Mr. Rayner, in which the writer remarks, that in the summer and autumn of 1837, he had several wagtails of the pied and yellow species in his aviary, which were all very expert in catching and feeding on the minnows which were in a fountain in the centre. They hovered