110 THE BIRDS OF KENT 



BLUE-HEADED YELLOW WAGTAIL. 



Motacilla flava, Linnteus. S.N., i., p. 331 (1766). 



This species is certainly rare compared with the other 

 Wagtails, and it is not so generally distributed in Kent, 

 being restricted in its habits to the seaboard and large 

 salt-marshes. 



Morris, in his British Birds, mentions a pair that were 

 shot at Dover, near the harbour, in July, 1851. According 

 to Professor Newton, in Yarrell's British Birds, " they 

 have generally occurred on or near the coast of the south- 

 western, southern, or eastern counties, Kent, &c., mostly 

 in the months of April, May, or June, and several times 

 in pairs." 



Dr. A. G. Butler " obtained the nest and eggs of this 

 species from the saltings by the creek at Kemsley, near 

 Sheppey, in Kent, in the early part of June, 1885. The 

 bird was known to the boys by the popular name of 

 ' Whip Jack.' The nest is slighter than those of the 

 three other species which I obtained at Kemsley in May ; 

 it is formed of fine fibrous roots and coarse grasses, and 

 is thickly lined with black horse-hair. It contains six 

 eggs of a pale yellowish-brown colour, rather yellower 

 than those of the Yellow Wagtail {M. raii), and not 

 unlike some eggs of the Sedge-Warbler, excepting that 

 they are slightly larger and have a more polished surface. 

 I may mention that I have seen this species of Wagtail 

 within a mile or two of Kemsley, and at the same time of 

 year." 



