538 



PERCHING BIRDS 



Blue-headed ^^ already mentioned, the blue-headed wagtail is 

 Wag-tail very closely related to the last, of which, indeed, it 



(Motacilla flava). "^^y be only the eastern and typical form. In 

 breeding-plumage the cock may, however, be dis- 

 tinguished by the bluish-grey crown of the head and nape, white eye- 

 stripe, and dark grey ear-coverts ; the rest of the upper surface of the 

 head and neck, as well as the back, being greenish olive tinged with 

 yellow ; the wing-coverts and quills are dark brown, the former and 

 the inner secondaries having yellowish-white edges : with the excep- 

 tion of the three middle pairs, which are black, the tail-feathers 

 are mostly white, as are the sides of the face and throat, the rest 



of the under - parts 

 being gamboge-yellow. 

 The hen is not duller 

 in colouring, but rather 

 smaller in size, measur- 

 ing just over 6 in place 

 of 6^ inches in length. 

 In autumn the yellow 

 of the lower surface 

 becomes more intense. 

 Young birds differ from 

 hens in that the grey 

 of the head is mi.xed 

 with brown, and the 



ARO STUDIOS 



BI.UE-IIEADED W.\GTAIL (MALE). 



yellow of the lower surface tinged with brown and orange-buff. 



The distribution of this species is curiously similar to that of 

 the white wagtail, extending in summer from central and southern 

 Europe to Siberia ; while in winter the European birds visit Africa, 

 while some of those from Central Asia take an easterly route to pass 

 the winter in Burma and southern China. To the British Isles the 

 species is an occasional visitor, rarely occurring in Scotland and 

 unknown in Ireland. It is recorded to have nested in Northumber- 

 land during the 'seventies, and in Sussex in 1 90 1 and 1903, while 

 it has probably also bred in Suffolk. In May 1907 two pairs of these 

 birds nested in a marsh in Kent. The nest was placed amidst tall 

 grass on the bank of a ditch, and contained six eggs. The blue- 

 headed wagtail does not perch so readily as the yellow species, for 

 while the latter settles freely on bush, tree, or fence, and may be 

 seen sitting on telegraph-wires, the blue-headed wagtail is never seen 

 anywhere but on the ground, except when the male settles for a few 



