GREY WAGTAIL 535 



race of the white species, in which case it should be called Motacilla 

 alba lugubris. The wagtails are, however, an exceptionall}- difficult 

 group to classify, and, as is noted later on (pp. 537 and 538), a consider- 

 able amount of uncertainty still obtains among naturalists as to the 

 number of species and races — even among those visiting the British 

 Isles — which should be recognised. 



Grey Wag-tail -^^ '^^ breeding-dress the male of the grey wagtail 



(Motacilla (often known as Motacilla snlphnrea) xmy be dis- 



melanope). tinguished without difficulty by the slaty grey of the 



crown and sides of the head and back, the black 



throat, and the sulphur-yellow under-parts ; additional characters being 



MOUNTED IN THE ROWLAND WARD STUDIOS 



GREY WAGTAIL (MALE). 



the presence of a white stripe above the eye, and of another running 

 from the base of the beak to the neck, the black middle tail-feathers 

 and the white outer ones, and the buffish-white margins to the inner 

 secondary quills. The hen has a shorter tail than the cock — in which 

 this appendage is of unusual length — and is further distinguished by 

 her duller colouring, and the absence or slight development of the 

 black on the throat. This black area disappears also from the cock 

 in winter-dress, when the under-parts assume a huffish tint. Young 

 birds resemble their maternal parents, with the exception that they 

 are browner, and have buff eye-stripes. 



This wagtail, which is partially migratory, ranges across Europe 

 and Asia from the Atlantic to the Pacific, not reaching, however, 

 northward of central Russia and southern Sweden, and in winter 



