1. MOTACILLA. 457 



b". Feet extremely large, the hind toe and 

 claw exceeding: the tarsus in length. 

 a'". Rictal bristles obsolete; culmen less 



than hind claw 4. Xanthocorts, 



&'". Rictal bristles very strong and reaching [p. 619. 



beyond nostrils ; culmen equal to hind 



toe 7. Machonyx, p. 623. 



d. Plumage mottled, the feathers of the upper 

 surface edged with pale margins ; upper part 

 of hinder tarsus with scutellations. Culmen 

 decurved 6. Oreocorys, p. 622. 



1. MOTACILLA. 



Type. 



Motaeilla, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 328 (1766) M. alba. 



Eudytes, Chivier, Ecijve Anim. i. p. 371 (1817) M. flava. 



Calobates, Kaup, Natiirl. Sj/st. p. 33 (1829) M. melanope. 



Pallenura, B/y. Consp. i. p. 250 (1850) M. melanope. 



Range. The whole of the Old World, except Australia and Poly- 

 nesia, occurring also in the extreme north-west of America. 



I have united the Field-Wagtails (Budytes) with the Water- 

 Wagtails (Motaeilla), as their separation does not appear to me to 

 depend upon anj- structural character. A studj- of the whole of the 

 Wagtails teaches us that, although European forms might be divided 

 under the above headings, there are certain intermediate species, 

 such as M. fiaviventris, which unite these two supposed geuera. 



Our knowledge of these birds is still very imperfect, and even the 

 immense series which I have examined, not only from the Museum 

 collection, but from the cabinets of Mr. Seebohm, Canon Tristram, 

 Capt. Wardlaw Eamsay, Capt. Shelley, and other naturalists, has 

 been insuificient to enable me to feel perfect confidence in the 

 arrangement of some of the Yellow AVagtails, and certain of the 

 synonyms may ultimately prove to have been referred to the wrong 

 species. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Under tail-coverts white or yellowish white. 

 a'. Throat black ; chin only white some- 

 times. 

 a". Ear-coverts white. 



«'". No black streak through the eye. 

 «^. Back black. 



a''. Black extending right up to the 

 chin, 

 a". Median and greater wing- 

 coverts black, externally 

 edged with white ; sides of 



body ashy gxey lugnbris, p. 400. 



6^. Median and greater wing- 

 coverts pure white, forming 

 a wing-patch ; sides of body 



pure white leucopsis ad., p. 484. 



6^ Black extending more or less on 



the fore neck and throat leucopsia ad., p. 485. 



