The White Wagtail. i8i 



addition of a little water or mashed potato) and a few insects, tlieir larvae, or 

 spiders from time to time. But, unless hand-reared neither the Pied-, nor any 

 other Wagtail, should be kept in a cage; and certainly, when possible, the liberty 

 of a room should be allowed for a short time each day to a caged specimen ; even 

 then, at its autumn moult the pet cage bird fails to cast the scales on the tarsi, 

 which yearl}^ pile up on the front of its feet and much disfigure it. 



Family -MO TA CILLID.F. 



The White Wagtail. 



Motacilla alba, LlNX- 



DISTRIBUTED over the whole of Europe and breeding as far north as land 

 extends : it is also believed to breed in Egypt, and it certainly does so 

 in the Highlands of Palestine, Asia Minor and Persia, to which countries 

 it is also a winter visitor. In the autumn the European birds travel southwards, 

 wintering in Southern Europe, North Africa, southward to Senegal and eastward 

 to Zanzibar. It is also said sometimes to visit the Canaries. 



Mr. Bond first recognized this as a British bird in 1841, since when it has 

 occurred more or less commonly in Cornwall, Devonshire, the Isle of Wight, 

 Kent, Middlesex, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, 

 Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumberland and Northumberland. In 

 Scotland it has been seen as far north as Inverness and even in Shetland ; it has 

 also occurred on the island of Lewis after rough weather. From Ireland only one 

 authenticated specimen is recorded. 



The White Wagtail in general appearance, habits, and nidification, nearly 

 resembles the Pied species, but differs in the grey colouring of its back and lesser 



