Gould thought everyone must enjoy watching the Pied Wagtail as it tripped over the lawn, ran along by the riverside, performed 'its dipping flights from one place to another', or bobbed its tail up and down in constant motion. By the water's edge it would rush about, and sometimes run breast-high into the stream, and leap on a floating leaf, stone or water-plant.

The illustration shows the male in the water, the young bird (centre) with yellow colouring on its face and throat, and the female.

DISTRIBUTION: The White Wagtail Motacilla alba comprises a number of races, including the Pied Wagtail M.a.yarrelli, first named by Gould in 1837. This race breeds in the British Isles and rarely on adjacent continental Europe, and winters from southwest Europe to Morocco