( 121 ) 



the upper surface more slaty. These are exactly the reasons why the Madeirau form 

 has been separated, bnt the variability of the Azorean birds is great. The wing 

 varies from 81 to 88 mm. The third rectrix from the ontside varies in colour. In 

 the European form it is generally white with a narrow stripe on the inner web and 

 j)ractic,ally the whole of the outer wcli black. In the Madeirau race it is similar, but 

 occasionally much blacker, havinj; only a white ]iatch near the tip. In the Azorean 

 birds it is blacker, specimens like the blackest ones from Madeira usually beiuir not 

 un<-ommon. 



Mr. Grant sent the following series : 



1 ¥, 1 sex not marked, Sta. Maria, :}(Mt— 400 ft., 28. ii., 3. iii. lOo:?. 

 5 c?c?, 3 ? ?, San Miguel, .jijO— 23(10 ft., 11—23. iii. Ifi03. 



C> <S(S, 1 ¥, Terceira, 1200—150(1 ft., 31. iii.— G, iv. 10(i3. 



2 (Jc?, Graciosa, 22. iv. 1003. 



-1 Jc?, 3 ? ?, San Jorge, 1200—200(1 ft., r.— 10. v. 10o3. 



2 cJcJ, 1 S, Pico, 1000—2.500 ft., 13-17. v. 1903. 



4 (?(?, 2 ? ?, Fayal, 1000—2500 ft., 24—28. v. 1903. 



2 (?(?, 3 ¥ ?, Flores, 200—1000 ft., 15—19. iv. 1903. 



1 c?, Corvo, 500 ft., 14. iv. 1903. 



" Iris brown, bill black ; feet light brown, legs paler than toes." 



[Local name: Arveloa or Arvcliuhii Labandeira in Flores, (!orvo, and the 

 central islands. 



The Ponta Delgada Museum contains : 

 a — I'. Ponta Delgada, San Migmd. 



The Grey Wagtail was met witli on every island throughout the Azores, 

 and occurs from sea-level to an elevation of about 3000 ft., for several pairs 

 were met with on San .Torge on the pools among the grassy slopes near the base 

 of one of the highest points. The species was perhaps most numerous on Santa 

 Maria and Terceira, and least plentiful on Flores, though by no means scarce on 

 that island. 



When we arrived at Santa Maria in the end of February nearly all the 

 Wagtails collected were found to be in moult, though some of the males had 

 already assnmed the fnlly black throat charac'teristic of the breeding plumage. 

 On San Mignel, a few weeks later, several birds with the throat more or less 

 (■oin]iletely black proved on dissection to be females, and this fact led me tn look 

 closely into the matter, as I had always believed that the female Grey Wagtail 

 had the throat entirely white, or white with only a few black feathers. Hy the 

 middle of March almost all the birds of this species were met with in pairs, and 

 after shooting a considerable number we found that in many instances the nearly 

 black-throated birds were females, and that many of those with white throats 

 were males. In more than one instance a white-throated bird in Hue freshly 

 moulted plumage i)roved to be a male, and was shot in company with a female 

 which had a partially black throat. More than one female was ]irocnred with 

 the throat quite, or almost, as black as that of the full-])Inmaged male. It 

 would thus appear that some males, probably birds of the year, do not assume 

 the black throat at their first breeding season ; while certain females, ])robably 

 very old birds, have a black throat like the old male. 



We found a nest of this bird containing four hard-set egg.s on San Jorge on 

 May 10th, and only one of the eggs c^iuld bo successfidly blown. A second 

 nest with lour slightly incubated eggs was subse([uently taken on May 27th 



