128 THE BIRDS OF YORKSHIRE. 



my friend Mr. T. H. Nelson. It was captured in a lark-net 

 at Halifax in the spring of 1901, and is now in the collection 

 of Mr. Arthur Crabtree of that town, who obtained it from 

 a friend who saw the specimen in the flesh. It is very 

 surprising that this species is not somewhat more frequent 

 in its visits to our shores, when on passage to and from its 

 Scandinavian summer haunts, and yet I believe this to be 

 the first really authentic record of its occurrence in the 

 British Isles." (Bulletin of the Brit. Orn. Club. No. 98.) 



I here beg to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. 

 Crabtree for his courtesy in forwarding the specimen and 

 giving the information concerning its capture. 



YELLOW WAGTAIL. 



Motacilla raii {Bonaparte). 



Summer visitant, generally distributed, but in varying numbers ; 

 arrives in mid-April, leaving again in September. 



Historically, the earliest reference to this species in York- 

 shire is found in Willughby's "Ornithology" (1678), thus: — 

 " The Common Yellow — Motacilla flava. The other Yellow 

 — M. flava altera. This was observed in the north by Mr. 

 Johnson (of Brignall, near Greta Bridge), and the description 

 thereof communicated to us." 



Thomas Allis, 1844, wrote : — 



Motacilla rayi. — Yellow Wagtail — Common in sandy districts near 

 York, and not abundant in the East Riding. 



On the whole a fairly abundant summer visitor, the Yellow 

 Wagtail, the most elegant and delicate looking of the genus, 

 usually arrives about the middle of April, the approximate 

 date in the south of the county being the 13th for the first 

 comers. At the Humber mouth it may be expected in the 

 middle of the month, but at the Tees the bulk do not appear 

 till the third week, when at times the neighbourhood swarms 



