GREY-AND-YELLOW WAGTAIL. 243 



This beautiful bird lias no song, at least I have never heard 

 it emit more than a few shrill and rather feeble notes. In its 

 stomach I have always found insects exclusively, for the most 

 part coleopterous, without any grains of sand or gravel. Ac- 

 cording to Montagu and other writers, it is seen in the south of 

 England only in the winter season. In the north, and in most 

 parts of Scotland it is not uncommon in summer, although 

 there are few places in which it can be said to be plentiful. 

 Mr Hepburn informs me that it is the only Wagtail that re- 

 mains all winter, in his neighbourhood, in the interior of East 

 Lothian, the Pied Wagtail departing in the middle of October, 

 and not returning until near the end of February. 



Young. — The young when fully fledged have the bill dusky, 

 the feet yellowish-brown, the claws light brown. The upper 

 parts are grey, tinged with green, the rump greenish-yellow ; 

 the wings and tail as in the adult, but the former with a trans- 

 verse bar formed by the greyish tips of the secondary coverts. 

 There is an ochraceous streak over the eye ; the throat is 

 brownish-white ; a faintly marked crescent of dull grey fea- 

 thers is seen on the fore-neck, of which the lower part and the 

 anterior portion of the breast, are dull greyish-red ; the sides 

 grey ; the rest of the lower parts greyish- white, tinged with 

 yellow behind, the lower tail-coverts pale yellow. 



Progress toward Maturity. — At the first autumnal moult, 

 the bird assumes its complete colouring. 



Fig. 157. 



