The =Wagtails= (_Motacilla_), _e.g._ the =White Wagtail= (_M. alba_),
usually living in the neighbourhood of water, and seeking its insect
food in the fields (often behind the plough), and in pastures and
gardens.
The lark-coloured =Pipits= (_Anthus_).
The =Hedge Accentor=, or “Sparrow” (_Accentor modularis_),—in garden
hedges, and woods, feeding sometimes on seeds.
The following “warblers:” =Nightingale= (_Daulias luscinia_), =Robin=
(_Erithacus rubecula_), =Redstart= (_Ruticilla phœnicurus_), the =Lesser
Whitethroat= (_Sylvia curruca_), =Garden Warbler= (_S. hortensis_),
=Willow Wren= (_S. trochilus_), =Chiffchaff= (_S. rufa_), =Reed
Warblers= (_Acrocephalus streperus_ and _A. arundinacea_), etc. The
last-named live among reeds and rushes on the banks of fresh waters, and
eat insects which do not affect agriculture and forestry; all the other
warblers are useful.
Other examples of the Subulirostres are the =Golden-crested Wren=
(_Regulus cristatus_), and the =Common Wren= (_Troglodytes parvulus_),
which are of service to forestry and fruit-tree culture, but not to
agriculture.
[Illustration:
FIG. 38.—The Nightingale (_Daulias luscinia_).
]
Most of the native thrush-like birds (_Turdus_), _e.g._ the =Blackbird=
(_T. merula_), the =Missel Thrush= (_T. viscivorus_), the =Fieldfare=
(_T. pilaris_), the =Redwing= (_T. iliacus_), and the =Song Thrush= (_T.
musicus_), assist the farmer by devouring noxious insects and snails;
but several of them occasionally do damage by poaching on cherries,
grapes, currants, etc. Some of them (_e.g._ the Song Thrush and
Blackbird) breed in almost all parts of Britain, others come here only
in autumn or winter.
ORDER: =Gyrantes= (DOVES).
Body strongly built, somewhat thick-set. Wings long and pointed. Beak
weak, with a cere at its base; nostrils covered by gristly scales. Toes:
three forwardly and one backwardly directed, free, _i.e._ without a web
(as in poultry). The young are at first blind and naked. They are at
first fed with a cheesy secretion of the glands of the crop; later, with
grain softened in the crop. Doves always live in pairs. Nests careless,
flat, of loosely arranged twigs; situated on tree-branches, rocks, and
large buildings. Doves breed twice or thrice a year, laying two longish,
shining white eggs.