The New International Encyclopædia/Wagtail

WAGTAIL. A small bird of the European family Motacillidæ, characterized by slenderness of form and a long narrow tail, which the bird incessantly wags up and down, with a jerking motion. The wagtails run with great speed, and frequent the margins of rivers and lakes, inundated fields, and other moist grounds, feeding almost entirely upon insects and worms. They make their nests on the ground, among moist herbage, or in stony places. One species, the yellow wagtail (Budytes flara), occurs abundantly in Alaska in summer, migrating to and from Asia; and the American titlark (q.v.) is a member of the family. The name 'wagtail' is often given in the United States, however, to the similarly appearing American warblers (q.v.) of the genus Seiurus, especially to the two 'water-thrushes' Sciurus Noreboracensis and Sciurus motacilla. Like their congener the oven-bird (Seciurus auricapillus), they are among the largest of warblers, and are olive above and buffy white below, streaked with black.