530 MOTACILLID^. 



ashj'-bro'VTO bases to the feathers ; quills dusky brown below, white 

 towards the base of the iuuer web. Total length 6'5 inches, culmen 

 0-55, wing 2"95, tail 2-6, tarsus 0-9. 



Ohs. The amount of black on the neck and mantle of this species 

 varies in a remarkable degree, attaining its greatest development in 

 eastern specimens. Specific characters, such as Von Homeyer has 

 endeavoured to fix from this peculiarity, seem to us to be quite 

 untrustworthy, as every possible gradation is exhibited in a large 

 series. 



Young. Brown tinged with olive, the head, hind neck, and sides of 

 neck whity brown, much paler on the neck ; a broad white eyebrow, 

 Burmounted by a broad line of black, along the sides of the crown ; 

 wing-coverts and quills dark bi'own, washed and edged with olive- 

 yellow, the median series edged broadly with white ; ear-coverts 

 whitish mottled with black ; throat white, thickly spotted with black 

 along the sides and across the fore neck ; remainder of under sur- 

 face whitish, washed with yellow, clearer yellow on the vent and 

 under tail-coverts. 



Young sjyecimens after tlieir first moult so closely resemble immature 

 M.flava and M. virklis as to reiider it difficult to define any cha- 

 racters for their separation. I think, however, that the ear-coverts 

 in M. melanocepluda are blacker in the winter plumage than in the 

 other two species, which, moreover, have an underlying greyish shade 

 on the head in winter. There is often a more or less distinct eye- 

 brow in the first winter ; it is either yellow or yellowish white and 

 disappears when the black head is put on ; the remains of this ej'e- 

 brow have caused many ornithologists to remark that a supercilium 

 is sometimes indicated. 



Hah. South-eastern Europe, wintering in Africa, extending to 

 Central Asia, wintering in the plains of India. 



a. $ imm. sk. Malta, May 5 {Dr. A, L, Gould Collection 



Ad(ims). 



h. Juv. sk. Dalmatia. R. B. Sharps, Esq. [P.]. 



c. Pull. sk. Poland. Gould Collection. 



d, e. Ad. sk. Crimea. Gould Collection. 

 f,g. d $ ad. sk. Asia Minor. T. Robson [C.]. 



h. cS ad. sk. Asia jNIinor, April {T. Salvin-Godman Collec- 



Rohsmi). tion. 



i. (5juv.sk. Asia Minor, Sept. 9 (7. Salvin-Godman CoUec- 



Rohsoti). tion. 



k. <S ad. sk. Smyrna. Consul Merlin [P.] 



I. tS ad. sk. Smyrna. Gould Collection. 



m Ad. St. Athens. ' Consul Merlin [P.J. 



n. Ad. sk. Erzeroum (Dickson and Gould Collection. 



Ross). 



0. Ad. sk. Gu-geh, Egypt, March Gould Collection. 



21 {Haivk'shaio). 



p. Ad. sk. Egypt, April 15. . J. H. Gumey, Jun., Esq. 



[P-]- 

 g'. Ad. ; r. Juv. sk. Nubia. Sharpe Collection. 



s. S ad. sk. Senate, Abyssinia, April Sharpe Collection. 



(Jesse). 



