558 



PASSE RES. 



MOTACILLTD.E. 



MOTACILLID.^. 



MoTACiLLA FLAVA, Linnaeus*. 

 THE BLUE-HEADED WAGTAIL. 



Motacilla Jiava. 



Since Mr. Gould, in July, 1832, pointed out the distinc- 

 tion between the common Yellow Wagtail of this country and 

 that which inhabits the nearest parts of the continent, the 

 latter has been not unfrequently observed in the United 

 Kingdom ; it is therefore fully entitled to consideration in 

 any work on British Ornithology. INIr. Gould then very 

 clearly shewed (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1832, p. 129), what had 

 never been even suspected before, that the Motacilla jiava 

 of all prior British writers was not only distinguishable from 

 the bird so called on the continent, but that our Yellow 

 Wagtail was almost as rare, and as little known abroad, as 

 was the foreign Yellow Wagtail f here. Later experience 

 has but little, if at all, affected the position taken up by Mr. 

 Gould, for, though the Blue-headed Wagtail (to use the first 



* Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 331 (1766). 



t When thi.s bird was first recognized by Mr. Gould, be called it M. neglecta, 

 supposing it to have been overlooked by other naturalists, and continued the 

 name M. jiava to the British form. On its subsequently becoming clear that 

 the former was the true M. Jiava of LinnjBus, it was necessary to adopt a new 

 name for the latter, and that of M. rail is now applied to it as will presently 

 appear more fully. 



