WHITE WAGTAIL 11 



Fall and winter. — The white wagtail is a migrant in the northern 

 parts of its range, and in fall there is a southward movement to the 

 Mediterranean region and Africa. In the British Isles there is a reg- 

 ular passage down the west coast of Great Britain and both east and 

 west coasts of Ireland, consisting, no doubt, mainly of birds from Ice- 

 land. It has been shown in Germany (e. g., in Helgoland) that the first 

 arrivals are young birds. Later old and young pass together 

 (Weigold, 1926). In winter quarters, according to most observers, it 

 seems generally to frequent the vicinity of water and may be found 

 either singly or in small j^arties or in flocks, which may reach very large 

 dimensions. It may, however, also be found well away from water. 

 It is at roosting time that gregarious tendencies are most pronounced, 

 for in regions where many winter, as in Egypt, hundreds and sometimes 

 even thousands will assemble to roost together, and similar gregarious 

 roosting takes place during migration. Reed beds and areas of tangled 

 swamp vegetation are the sites most favored, but buildings and trees 

 (sometimes even in towns), bushes, ivy on walls, and other sites are 

 also made use of. Greaves (1941) has given an interesting account of 

 roosting habits in Egjq^t, where enormous numbers roost in sugarcane 

 by the Nile. He says : "The birds circle round and up and down, con- 

 stantly changing directions and calling. It was not clear whether those 

 already down called, but it seemed obvious that the leaders of the 

 flocks were trying to find out the places where others were already 

 roosting, and when the leaders went down the majority followed at 

 once or after making another short flight. Generally, they dropped 

 like stones, with closed wings, until just above the cane, sometimes from 

 a height of forty feet or more. It was exceedingly difficult to assess 

 numbers, but there was no doubt that on favourable occasions a single 

 observer might see as many as 2000. Once down they rarely took to 

 wing again unless disturbed." This was in January. The same kind 

 of thing can be observed on a much smaller scale in Europe. Greaves 

 further states that white wagtails wintering in Egypt "exercised a 

 territorial habit in feeding, and regularly frequented the same garden. 

 A male would dispute his right with another male but generally tolerate 

 a female on his territory, sometimes two, but as observations continued 

 it seemed clear that the association was a loose one. The female for 

 most of the season was in close attendance on the male, and often fol- 

 lowed him, but at other times fed alone." 



DISTRIBUTION 



Breeding range. — Iceland, Faeroes, and practically all Europe from 

 the Arctic Ocean to the Mediterranean and from Portugal to the 

 Urals, but excluding the British Isles, where the form is replaced by 

 the pied wagtail {M. a. yarrellii). Also Kolguev, Corsica, Asia Mi- 

 nor, and Syria. 



