The yellow species is called _Motacilla raii_, but the Abbé Vincelot, who wrote half a century ago, on the birds of Maine-et-Loire, treating specially of their names as descriptive of their manners, call it _Motacilla boarula_, and he said he thought the latter designation came from Boaria, an old name for Bavaria, used after the Boïens, driven by the Marcomans from Bohemia, settled there. This name Boïens seems to have been given to the tribes who reared and tended cattle. There were Boïens of Gaul, of Italy, and of Germany. In Poitou an ox is still called boe and the grazier boier. By the ancient Romans the beef market was called the forum boarium. And so the name of boarule given to the Yellow Wagtail may be supposed to indicate this habit of following up the cattle in quest of his insect food. Bergeronette, the common French name of this charming and useful species, is equally descriptive of the bird as an ally of the shepherd. * * * * * The Pied Wagtail, _Motacilla lugubris_, is our common and well distributed species. The Grey Wagtail, _M. Melanópe_, a beautiful bird with its longer tail and yellow tints, frequents our hilly districts and mountain streams; but, the Blue-headed species is only an irregular visitor to our Islands, on migration. The food and habits of this family are alike, and they are all most useful to the grazier and farmers generally. [Illustration: A Morning Bath] THE GREAT REED WARBLER. (_Acrocephalus turdoides._) This Reed Warbler lives exclusively in reed beds, and, as it is fairly common, inhabits a large number of such places, so that in the pairing season the whole neighbourhood resounds with its love song, which even overpowers the croaking of the frogs. There are usually large numbers of the birds near together, and all join with one voice in the concert. It goes on from morning till night. Indeed during the most eager time of its wooing it goes on all night. The song is sometimes expressed thus:-- Karrey-karrey-karrey Ker-ker-ker Hedder-hedder Duee-duee-duee, etc. Where the reeds are thickest it shoots between them, as a weaver’s shuttle shoots between the threads. What is still more clever is the way in which it climbs about the straight tall stalks of the reeds. It clasps the reed with its toes and claws, and immediately it seems to be up on the top, then in a moment it slides down again and vanishes among the reeds. And of what use is all this? This bird is of use in its own way, in places inaccessible to others. It destroys innumerable grubs and insects, which frequent water and boggy land, and does its best to make such places habitable. The food of this Reed Warbler consists principally of insects and their larvæ, although in the autumn, like most creatures, instinct teaches it to eat some fruit for health’s sake, in the shape of berries, particularly those of the elder. The nest of this Reed Warbler is one of the marvels [Illustration: USEFUL.