. British birds. Birds. OTES. BREEDING OF THE BLUE-HEADED WAGTAIL IN WILTSHIRE. Having seen some Yellow Wagtails {MotaciUa raii) earlier in the year, in a water meadow by the Kennet, near Marlborough, I went again to look for them at the end of last May. In a corner of the meadow close to the river I came upon a pair of birds which at first I took to be Yellow Wagtails, but on closer examination they proved to be the Blue-headed Wagtail {MotaciUa jiava). They were feeding young ones, and became very excited when I aj)proached the nest. I did not, however, discover the nest till June 4th, on wh
. British birds. Birds. OTES. BREEDING OF THE BLUE-HEADED WAGTAIL IN WILTSHIRE. Having seen some Yellow Wagtails {MotaciUa raii) earlier in the year, in a water meadow by the Kennet, near Marlborough, I went again to look for them at the end of last May. In a corner of the meadow close to the river I came upon a pair of birds which at first I took to be Yellow Wagtails, but on closer examination they proved to be the Blue-headed Wagtail {MotaciUa jiava). They were feeding young ones, and became very excited when I aj)proached the nest. I did not, however, discover the nest till June 4th, on which date the young, five in number, were about eight or nine days old. The nest was made of a little moss and dead grass, lined with horse and cow hair, and was placed in a slight hollow among long grass and burdock at the foot of a stem of the latter. I was able to put the identity of the old birds beyond all doubt by comparing them through a fieldglass with a pair of Yellow Wagtails in the same field. The male Blue- headed Wagtail had the forehead, crown and nape bluish- grey, a white streak over the eye, and a dark line through the eye, a faint light mark below the eye, and below that again a narrow grey line; the throat white; the back olive-brown; the tail-coverts not so green as the back; the central tail-feathers black, the outer ones white; the flight feathers brown edged with a yellowish colour, and a light bar on the secondaries; the underparts bright sulphur-yellow ; the beak and legs black. The female was olive on the forehead, crown, nape, cheeks and back, light yellow, almost white, on the throat, a white mark over the eye, and a patch on the cheek, the underparts bright yellow but a little paler than the male, which in other respects she resembled. The young, about a week after leaving the nest, had the forehead, crown, nape and back dull brown, much darker on the side of the head than on the top, a white line over the eye and a dark brown line through it, below
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherl, booksubjectbirds
