Spring Wagtail (Budytes flava, Cuvier), s.
There appears no doubt but many authors have confounded this species with the grey wagtail, which we have remarked more fully in the history of that bird.
The male of this species, it is said, possesses a few black spots on the throat, but such a mark we have never observed in more than a hundred specimens. It must therefore be rare, if not a mistake, in describing the grey wagtail for this. If no other mark of distinction were to be found but the length and straitness of the hind claw in this, it would be sufficient to know it from the grey wagtail, which is very short and crooked. The tail of this bird is also an inch shorter, and has only two feathers on each side, partly white. The under parts of the male are of a much fuller yellow, and the upper parts never possess any of the cinereous colour.
The spring wagtail visits us about the time the other departs, and migrates again in September. It frequents arable land, especially in the more champaign parts; sometimes uncultivated ground interspersed with furze; it is also partial to bean fields; in all such places it breeds, and does not seem to regard water so much as either of the other species. It is said to be found in Russia and Siberia in summer, and to continue in France the whole year.—Montagu.
Sprout, s. A shoot of a vegetable; a branch of a deer’s horn.
Spur, s. A sharp point fixed on the rider’s heel; incitement, a stimulus; the sharp points on the legs of a cock; anything standing out.
Spur, v. To prick with the spur; to incite; to urge forward.
Spurgalled, a. Hurt with the spur.
Spurious, a. Not genuine, counterfeit; adulterine; not legitimate, bastard.
Spurling, s. A small sea fish.