108 THE BIRDS OF KENT 



GKEY WAGTAIL. 



Motacilla melanope, Pallas. 

 JReise Buss. BiecJis., iii., p. 69G (1776). 



Grey Water Wagtail, Boys, 179-2. 



From the particulars which have been collected respect- 

 ing the Grey Wagtail in Kent, it will be seen that this 

 species is far more plentiful than at first supposed, and 

 it may be considered as a permanent resident. Through- 

 out the districts visited a pair or an odd bird has been 

 observed in every month of the year. 



In 1844, the Eev. J. Pemberton Bartlett states that 

 it is " common." 



Mr. Yarrell in his British Birds, 1843-56, states that 

 " in the counties around London the Grey AVagtail is 

 a winter visitor, but Mr. E. Blyth has recorded that he 

 once observed a pair of them upon Penge Common in 

 Kent at the end of May, that evidently had a nest in 

 the neighbourhood, though he was unsuccessful in his 

 repeated endeavour to find it." 



In 1865 Mr. W. H. Power, in his Birds Observed at 

 Bainliam, says the Grey Wagtail " appears on the marshes 

 early in the autumn on its migration southwards. The 

 first note I have of its appearance this year (1865) is 

 on September 7. It does not stay in any numbers, more 

 often paying only a flying visit." And Mr. F. D. Power 

 " observed it on the Kainham Marshes on September 8, 

 1868." 



Lord Clifton, in writing to the Zoologist, 1869, remarks : 

 " Mr. Power, in the Zoologist for January, says that 

 the Grey Wagtail appeared on the Eainham Marshes on 



