WAGTAIL, a small passerine bird of the fzmily Motacilhdce, so called from the habit of rrking the long tails when runing or perch ing. In this family, which also includes the pipits (Anthus), or titlarks (q.v.), the bill is slender, straight, and notched at the tip; the tarsi very long and slender for a passerine bird; the wing- with nine primaries and elon gated inner secondaries, and the tail long. About 100 species are lcnown, most of them belonging to the Old World. North America has four species of pipits and three wagtails, one of which (Budytes fiavus) is abundant in Alaska, the others (Motaciila alba and M. ocularis) are straonlers from Europe and Asia, respectively. The wagtails inhabit meadow lands and nastures, and frequnt pools and streams. They are agile runners, and have an easy, undulating flight. The food consists of insects, worms, snails, etc., especially such as may be found by wading. Their pests, built on the ground, contain from four to six eggs. A well-known European species is the pied wagtail (Motacilla larrellii), a permanent resi dent in Great Britain. The white wagtail (M.
alba) is common in France an-I southern Europe, is widely distributed in Asia and oc casionally wanders to Greenland; it resembles the preceding species, but is rather slender in form, and has the throat and part of the head and neck alone black, the general color of the upper parts being of a light ash gray. The blue-headed wagtail (Budytes flavus) is about six and one-half inches long, yellowish green above, bright yellow below, the head bluish gray except for the yellow throat and white superciliary stripe. This species is distributed extensively over Europe and Asia, and breeds plentifully in Alaska. The nest is formed of roots and moss sometimes lined with feathers, and placed in a hollow on the ground. The name of water-wagtail is in the United States often given to the water-thrush.
Consult Dresser, (Birds of Europe' ; See bohm, (Birds of Asia' ; and the writings of Nelson, Turner and Murdoch.
WAH, the Nepalese name of the panda (Qv.).