GREY-AND -WHITE WAGTAIL. 223 



Length to end of tail 71 inches ; bill along the ridge ^\, along 

 the edge of lower mandible |i ; wing from flexure 3 /^ ; tail 3g ; 

 tarsus {h ; first toe j^^, its claw || ; third toe j%, its claw ^%. 



Female. — The female differs from the male in having less 

 black on the head, the wing-coverts grey, the quills and tail- 

 feathers tinged with brown, and the crescent on the fore-neck 

 dusky-grey. 



Variations. — Individuals at this season vary a little in their 

 tints. Some have been seen entirely white, or variegated with 

 that colour. 



Changes of Plumage. — The partial change which takes place 

 in spring fills up the space intervening between the crescent on 

 the fore-neck and the bill with deep black. A similar change 

 is produced in the female, of which however the fore-neck is 

 of a less deep tint. 



Habits. — The above descriptions are taken from individuals 

 obtained from the continent, where it appears to be generally 

 distributed, while the next species, so common with us, is rarely 

 met with, and that only in the north-western parts. Our com- 

 mon Black-and-white or Pied Wagtail was always considered 

 to be the same as the Bergeronette grise or Motacilla alba of 

 continental ornithologists until the differences between the two 

 species were pointed out in the following terms by Mr Gould 

 in the Magazine of Natural History, Vol. I., N. S., p. 459. 

 " While engaged upon this tribe of birds during the course of 

 my work on the Birds of Burope, I was equally surprised to 

 find that the sprightly and pied wagtail, so abundant in our 

 islands at all seasons, could not be referred to any described 

 species, and that it was equally as limited in its habitat ; for, 

 besides the British islands, Norway and Sweden are the only 

 parts of Europe whence I have been able to procure examples 

 identical with our bird, whose place in the temperate portions 

 of Europe is supplied by a nearly allied, but distinct species, 

 the tnie M. alba of Linnaeus ; which, although abundant in 



