294 motacillid^e. 



greater part of Central and Northern Asia, and it is found in 

 Europe. 



Habits, <$fc. Breeds in Kashmir above 6000 feet, and in 

 Afghanistan in May and June, making a nest of moss and fibres 

 under large stones, or sometimes in a bush. The eggs, usually five 

 in number, are yellowish or brownish white, closely marked with 

 yellowish brown, and measure about '7 by *54. 



833. Motacilla borealis *. The Grey-headed Wagtail. 



Motacilla flava borealis, Sundev. (Efv. K. Vet.-Acad. Fork. Stock k. 



1840, p. 53. 

 Budytes viridis (Gmel.), apud Blyth, Cat. p. 138; Horsf. $ M. Cat. 



i, p. 350; Jerd. B. I. h, p. 222; Anders. Yunnan Exped., Ares, 



p. 60S ; Let/ye, Birds Ceyl. p. 617 ; Oates, B. B. i, p. 161. 

 Budytes cinereocapilla (Savi), apud Hume, Cat. uo. 593 ; Brooks, 



J." A. S. B. xliii, pt. ii, p. 248 ; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 238. 

 Motacilla borealis, Sundev. Sharpe, Cat. B. 31. x, p. 522, pi. vii, 



figs. 1-3. 

 The Indian Field-Wagtail, Jerd. ; Pilkija, Hind. 



Fig. 81.— Foot of M. borealis. 



Coloration. Male. In normal winter plumage, on first arrival 

 in India, the forehead, crown, nape, and hind neck are bluish grey, 

 a few of the feathers with greenish tips ; the back, scapulars, and 

 rump dull olive-green ; upper tail-coverts dark brown edged with 

 olive-green; the four middle pairs of tail-feathers black, narrowly 

 edged with olivaceous ; the two outer pairs almost wholly white ; 

 coverts and quills dark brown or black, margined with pale fulvous, 

 sometimes with a greenish tinge ; lores, cheeks, and ear-coverts 

 dark slaty black, the ear-coverts paling to bluish grey posteriorly ; 

 the whole lower plumage yellow, tinged with ochraceous across the 

 breast, and the feathers of that part with dark bases showing 

 through, and giving the breast a mottled appearance ; traces of a 

 white interrupted supercilium are frequently visible over the lores 

 and ear-coverts, but these traces are quite absent in most birds. 



* I agree with Sharpe that Brown's figure of the Green Wagtail is quite 

 unrecognizable, and that consequently Gmelin's name of viridis, founded on this 

 figure, must be rejected. 



