24 BULLETIN 19 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Dr. Lawrence H. Walkinshaw (1948) observed that the "song was 

 usually a high tzee-zee-zee^ or a ter-muee-ter-zwee-zwee-zmee. The 

 regular rate of singing was about seven times per minute on warmer 

 days during the morning. The birds sang periodically throughout 

 the day, but not continuously." 



Field marks. — The yellow wagtails can be recognized by their yellow 

 or yellowish breasts, white throats, and dark cheek patches. Other- 

 wise they closely resemble pipits in appearance and behavior. 



Fall. — Dr. Nelson (1887) says that "early in August the old birds 

 commence to disappear, and by the middle of the month are seen only 

 occasionally, although on the 18th of August thej' have been noted on 

 Saint Lawrence Island. The young remain longer and are found in 

 scattered parties all about the settlements and native houses in the 

 same localities favored by the common Water Wagtail, which occurs 

 sparingly along the coast at this season. The Yellow Wagtail trips 

 daintly along the grassy margins of the muddy spots, its vibrating 

 tail and slender form distinguishing it among the motley crowd of 

 Savanna Sparrows, Lapland Longspurs, and common Wagtails which 

 keep it company." 



Mr. Turner (1886), probably referring to the young birds, says: 



By the 1st of September the birds of this species collect into small flocks, 

 of eight to twenty in number, and remain as late as September 21st, at which 

 date they have about all disappeared. Tliey generally signalize their readiness 

 to depart by assembling on the low banks, bordering the beach, and dart high 

 into the air to return to the same, or similar, place after a few minutes time. 

 At this particular season of the year they are extremely wary and difflcult of 

 approach. * * * i once observed the bird on Attn Island (the westernmost 

 of the Aleutian Chain) on Sunday, October 8, ISSO. I chased the bird up and 

 down for two hours, but was not able to got near enough for a shot, as it was 

 very wild. It was evidently on the fall migration, and none were seen after 

 that day. It does not remain on the Aleutian Islands during the breeding 

 season. 



Like some other representatives of Asiatic species that breed in 

 Alaska, this wagtail does not migrate down the Pacific coast of North 

 America but prefers to retrace its steps over the ancestral route and 

 migrate down the eastern coast of Asia to its winter haunts in south- 

 eastern Asia and the islands beyond, perhaps across Bering Strait 

 or through the western Aleutians. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — According to the A. O. U. Check-list (1931) the Alaska 

 yellow wagtail : "Breeds in the Arctic Zone in extreme northeastern 

 Siberia and western Alaska from Point Barrow and Kotzebue Sound 

 to Nushagak Kiver; migrates through the western Aleutian Islands 

 to eastern Asia." 



