. A history of British birds. Birds. 202 BRITISH BIRDS. as nimbly as their congeners, often chasing each other through the air and very often flying in search of an insect. The White Wagtail often perches on trees and is fond of running along roofs of buildings or on walls. It roosts in trees, generally selecting some bare slender twig for the purpose, and before and after the breeding-season frequently repairs to old reed-beds, where it spends the night with the Starlings and other birds. Its food consists of insects, small beetles, larvae and small worms, moUusks, and grubs. It is a very act
. A history of British birds. Birds. 202 BRITISH BIRDS. as nimbly as their congeners, often chasing each other through the air and very often flying in search of an insect. The White Wagtail often perches on trees and is fond of running along roofs of buildings or on walls. It roosts in trees, generally selecting some bare slender twig for the purpose, and before and after the breeding-season frequently repairs to old reed-beds, where it spends the night with the Starlings and other birds. Its food consists of insects, small beetles, larvae and small worms, moUusks, and grubs. It is a very active lively little bird, running hither and thither, and repeatedly taking a short flight like a Flycatcher. Its song- and call-notes appear scarcely to differ from those of the Pied Wag- tail, although some naturalists have asserted that there is a recognizable difference in the call-note of the two species. The adult male White Wagtail in breeding-plumage has the forehead, the sides of the head and neck, and the underparts below the breast pure white, shading into slate-grey on the flanks. The rest of the head and the nape is jet-black; the general colour of the upper parts below the nape, including the lesser wing-coverts, is slate-grey, shading into nearly black on the upper tail-coverts; the quills are brown ; the innermost secondaries and the greater wing-coverts are brownish black, broadly margined with white, and the median wing-coverts are tipped with white; the tail is black, except the greater portion of the two outermost feathers, which are white. The chin, throat, and breast are black. Bill, legs, feet, and claws black; irides dark brown. The female somewhat closely resembles the male; but the black on the head does not extend so far on the nape and is suffused with brown, and the slate-grey of the back is not so blue. The changes which take place in the plumage of this bird are similar to those of the preceding Please note that these images are extracted
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1883
