16 BULLETIN 19 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



lighter tint, a white eyebrow and a blackish trans-ocular stripe; the- 

 sides of the head are mottled with grey, the throat feathers are edged 

 with black and the breast has a blackish crescent-shaped patch. The 

 face and throat are generally suffused with yellow. After the autumn 

 moult the young bird has the forehead and the f orecrown white, but 

 the hind crown is grey like the rest of the upper parts. The black 

 begins to appear on the head during the first winter." 



Food. — Mr. Shaw (1936) says: "This bird, like several other wag- 

 tails, is insectivorous. Its food consists of spiders, beetles, and some 

 other insects and their larvae." 



Behamor. — Mr. Hersey writes (1916) : "My failure to secure speci- 

 mens was due to the excessively restless habits of the birds. When on 

 the ground they were largely concealed by intervening clumps of moss 

 and the general character of the tundra, while they were liable to take 

 wing at a moment's notice and usually flew long distances. Their 

 flight was so erratic that it was exceedingly difficult to shoot them on 

 the wing." 



DISTRIBUTION 

 Contributed by Bernard William Tucker 



Data on winter and summer ranges and migrations are summarized 

 by Paludan (1932), whose paper should be consulted for fuller 

 particulars. 



Breeding range. — Northeast Siberia from the Tchuktchi Peninsula 

 west to the Yenisei (Turukhansk) and south to the Stanovoi 

 Mountains. 



Winter range. — South China, Formosa, Hainan, Indochina, Tenas- 

 serim, Burma, Assam, West Bengal, Philippines. 



Spring migration. — ^Leaves winter quarters in April ; last recorded 

 north Kansu May 8, North Chihli May 10, Amurland May 10; arrival 

 at Nijni Kolymsk, northeast Siberia, May 15. Recorded Bering Island 

 from May 9. 



Fall migration. — Recorded Nijni Kolymsk as late at September 21; 

 Chihli, September 15 to October 10; Szechwaii, September-November; 

 Kwangtung, September. 



MOTACILLA ALBA LUGENS Kittlitz 



BLACK-BACKED WAGTAIL 



Contributed by Winsor Marrett Tyler 



HABITS 



A black-backed wagtail w^as taken on Attic, now called Attn, Island 

 on May 4, 1913, apparently the first and so far the only record of the 



