518 MOTACILLIl)^. 



■with pale yellowish white : greater wing-coverts blackish, edged 

 externally with pale brown, inclining to whitish at the tips ; bastard- 

 wing blackish brown ; primary-coverts and quills brown, edged with 

 ashv brown, tinged with olive on the primaries, the inner secon- 

 daries rather more broadly margined with yellowish white ; tail- 

 feathers blackish brown, narrowly edged with white on the fourth 

 feather ; the two outermost white, with a broad inner margin of 

 blackish brown ; head blue-grey, contrasting with the back ; lores 

 black ; over the eye a very distinct hue of white ; upper and lower 

 edge of eyelid white, the anterior and posterior portion black ; ear- 

 coverts dark slaty grey, a little blacker than the crown, the lower 

 narts mixed with whitish; chin and a streak along the cheeks 

 white ; throat and remainder of under surface of body bright yellow, 

 with a few dusky spots on the sides of the fore neck ; thighs dull 

 yellow ; under tail-coverts like the breast ; axillaries white, washed 

 with yellow ; under wing-coverts dull white, washed with yellow 

 near the edge of the wing, where the coverts have dusky bases ; 

 quills lighter brown below, white along the edge of the inner web. 

 Total length 5-7 inches, culmen 0-55, wing 2-95, tail 2-7, tarsus 0-85. 

 Adult female in hreeding-plmnage. Rather duller in colour than 

 the male, and browner on the back and head ; wings browner, the 

 yellow edges to the coverts worn off and obsolete ; underneath very 

 pale yellow, whiter on the throat. Total length 6 inches, culmen 

 0-55, wing 3-1, tail 2-65, tarsus 0-9. 



Tou»[/. General colour above browii, the head like the back ; rump 

 rather more ashy : upper tail-coverts dark brown, edged with ashy 

 or olive-yellow, the lateral ones externally white ; lesser wing-coverts 

 brown like the back, slightly washed with olive-yellow ; median 

 and greater coverts dark brown, edged with pale fulvous-brown, 

 whiter on the greater coverts ; bastard-wing blackish ; primarj'- 

 coverts dark brown, edged with ashy ; quills clark brown, margined 

 with olive-yellow, the inner secondaries with whity brown ; tail- 

 feathers dark brown, the two outer ones white, with a broad dusky 

 brown edging to the inner web, the third feather also narrowly 

 edged with white towards the end ; over the eye a narrow streak 

 of tawny hwff, whiter above the lores ; ear-coverts brown ; cheeks 

 and throat dull white, the latter becoming browner on the fore neck 

 and chest ; remainder of under surface of body dull white, pale yellow 

 on the abdomen and veut, and white on the under tail-ooverts ; axil- 

 laries brown, externally whiter, tinged with oUve-yellow : wing- 

 coverts dull white, tinged with yellow, and mottled with dusky bases 

 near the edge of the wing ; quills dusky brown below, more ashy 

 brown on the inner web. 



The chest is mottled with blackish spots, which, however, are 

 often quite obscured. During the absence of the bird in winter, 

 however, the feathers get worn, and the black spots become much 

 more distinct. Before returning to Europe a complete moult takes 

 place both above and below, the new plumage being dark olive- 

 yellowish above and bright yellow below. Underneath the olive 

 tips the grey feathers of the head can be distinguished ; and it is by 



