PIED WAGTAIL, I2i 



more conveniently observed than in the summer months 

 when the foliage screens it from view. 



Although not classed among the regular migrants it is 

 not improbable that this species does occasionally cross the 

 North Sea in autumn ; an entry relating to its occurrence 

 at Spurn on August 14th 1885 appears in the Seventh 

 Migration Report, p. 42, and on the ist November 1889, 

 two examples, male and female, were shot at Easington 

 Lane End, where it meets the coast line. {Nat. 1890, p. 10.) 



Of local names, the book-name, Tree Creeper, is in general 

 use ; at Barnsley it is recorded as being named Creepy-tree, 

 and as Jinties {Nat. 1853, p. 201) ; at Marton-in-Cleveland 

 it is called Little Woodpecker. 



PIED WAGTAIL. 



Motacilla lugubris {Temminck.). 



Resident in small numbers, also summer visitant ; generally 

 distributed and common from March to September. Occurs in great 

 numbers on the coast in spring and autumn. 



The first allusion to this Wagtail as a Yorkshire bird is 

 a quotation in Willughby's " Ornithology " from Ralph 

 Johnson of Brignall, near Greta Bridge (a friend and correspon- 

 dent of the celebrated John Ray), under the heading of " White 

 Wagtail," but it is evident that the pied kind is meant : — 



"Water Wagtails. The White, Motacilla alba. This comes 

 every seed time and follows the plowman, and is therefore by 

 him called the Seed Bird. Mr. Johnson." (Will. " Orn." 1678, 

 pp. 7, 237.) See also Montagu's Ornithological Dictionary, 

 p. 361. 



Thomas Allis, 1844, wrote : — 



Motacilla yarrellii. — Common Wagtail — Common in most parts. 

 Few remain during winter. 



It is somewhat difficult to avoid controversy in defining 

 the faunistic status of this bird ; perhaps it maj^ be best 

 described as a summer visitor, with the adjoinder that in 

 the more sheltered parts a small proportion remain throughout 



