MOTACILLID.E: WAGTAILS AND PIPITS. 



301 



■*itf> 



their ends when the wing is closed ; these flowing secondaries narrow and tapering. Tarsus 

 long and slender ; lateral toes of about equal lengths ; hind claw not particularly lengthened 

 or straightened ; with its digit much shorter than tarsus. Form remarkably lithe and slender ; 

 coloration black, ashy, and white, in large masses. 



M. al'ba. (Lat. alha, white.) White Wagtail. $, in summer: Head black, with a 

 broad mask of white across forehead and along sides ; black extending on fore breast ; wings 

 blackish, with much white edging and tipping of quills and greater coverts; tail black, the 

 two lateral feathers on each side mostly white ; back and sides ashy ; lower parts mostly 

 white ; bill and feet black. In winter the black more restricted, that on the fore breast form- 

 ing a crescent. 9 similar; black still more restricted, in part replaced by gray. Young 

 gray above, grayish-white below, with a gray or blackish crescent on the fore neck. Length 

 about 7.00 ; wing 3.25 ; tail 3.7.5 ; tarsus 0.90 ; hind toe and claw 0.60 ; bill 0.50. A species 

 of wide distribution in Europe, Africa, and Asia, occasional in Greenland. Nest on the 

 ground; eggs 3-5, 0.80 X 0.60, white, fully speckled with brown. 



M. ocula'ris. (Lat. ocMtorts, ocular.) Siberian Wagtail. Swinhoe's Wagtail. Closely 

 resembling M. alba. Larger; length 7.00-7..50; wing 3.50-3.60; tail 3.50-4.00. A black 

 eye-stripe in the white mask ; 

 wing-coverts mostly white, form- 

 ing a large wing-patch ; upper 

 parts mostly gray. Young with 

 the transocular fascia indicated by 

 a dusky line. N. E. Siberia and 

 southward ; accidental in Lower 

 California ; probably also occur- 

 ring in Alaska. This tine species 

 agrees with M. lugens in the head- 

 inarkings, but in the latter the 

 back is black. SwiNH., Ibis, 1860, 

 p. 55; see Ridgw., Proc. U. S. 

 Nat. Mus., iv, 1882, p. 414; Nel- 

 son, Cruise of the Corwin, 188.'^, 

 ]). 62, plate 2 ; CouES, Key, 2d ed., 

 1884, p. 284; Sharps, Cat. B. 

 Brit. Mus., XV, 1885, p. 471, pi. 4, 

 tigs. 5, 6, showing the difference 

 lietween ocularis and lugens; which latter may also be looked for in Alaska. 

 BU'DYTES. (Gr. ^ov8vti]s, boudutes, some small bird.) Field Wagtails. Characters of 

 MiAdcUln ; tail sliorter, not exceeding the wing in length; hind claw lengthened and straight- 

 _ ish ; hind toe and claw nearly as long as the tarsus. Coloration 



cliietiy yellow and greenish. 



B. fla'vus leucostria'tus. (Lat. flavus, yellow. Gr. XtvKos, 

 leucos, white ; and Lat. striatus, striped, striated. Figs. 160, 

 1()I.) Siberian Yellow Wagtail. Homever's Quake- 

 ail. Adult : Above yellowish-green ; below, yellow, shaded 

 witli greenish on sides, with dusky on breast, and bleaching on 

 chin. Top of head bluish-gray ; a long white superciliary 

 stripe; a dusky area from corner of mouth through eye to car- 

 coverts. Quills of wing dusky ; lesser coverts edged with color of back ; median and greater 

 coverts showing whitish wing-bars; inner secondaries edged with the same. Tail dusky; 

 middle feathers edged witli color of bacli ; outer two on each side mostly white. Bill and feet 



Fig. 160. — Siberian Yellow Wagtail. 



Fig. IGl. — VeUow Wagtai 

 nat. size. (After Baird.) 



nearly 



