BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



Mbite Matjtail. 



53 



The White Wagtail {Motacilla alba, Linnaeus) is a regular 

 spring visitant to the British Isles, and has been on several 

 occasions identified as having nested in this country. It 

 is a resident species in some parts of Southern Europe, and 

 spends the winter in North Africa. The adult male in 

 summer has the chin, throat, and breast, black; auriculars, 

 and patch on sides of neck, white; above, grey; wing- 

 coverts, with black bases and edged with white ; crown and 

 nape, black ; rump and upper wing-coverts, ashy-grey, tipped 

 with white ; median ones also with white tips ; primaries, 

 blackish; under parts, white; sides, ashy-grey; tail-feathers, 

 black in centre ; outer ones, white, edged with black in- 

 wardly ; irides, dark brown; bill, legs, and feet, black. 

 Length, about seven inches. The female is similar to the 

 male, but the black on the crown is mixed with ashy. 



