SIX months' bird collecting in EGYPT. 169 



throated Pipits with it. But as spring draws on and one 

 goes further south, both these birds become scarcer : indeed 

 I do not remember seeing any White Wagtails in June. 

 The last great flock I saw was on the 12th of March, — a 

 countless stream migrating northwards. The next day- 

 there was not one. Wilkinson says that Abou fasada means 

 " Father of corruption." An explanation of this name more 

 probable than that which he and Dr. Adams favour, has 

 been given to me, viz., that the Wagtail seeks its food 

 (small flies) among the droppings of the cattle. 



■^lOL Grey Wagtail, Motacilla sidphurca (Bech). 



I got this the first day we went out. During January 

 and the early part of February I saw at least six, all alone. 

 I observed one pecking about and flirting its tail in a boat 

 in the town of Mansourah, and more than a fortnight after- 

 wards, when we were coming back, I saw it again in the 

 same place. 



102. Btidytes flava (Linn.), M. neglccia, Gould. 

 103. Budytcs viridis (Gmel.). 



In Egypt, at any rate, these two "species" cannot be 

 kept apart ; but as the latest authorities still sunder them, of 

 course I cannot do better than follow suit. They are very 

 generally distributed, but specimens without the eye stripe 

 are commoner than those with. At the end of April I saw 

 large flocks of young birds of the year. They are very 

 different in colour from the old ones, having on either side 

 the throat a marked black band, and no yellow at ah. 

 They were like Mr. Dresser's figure of the young B. flava 

 (loc. cit). 



