OTES 



BREEDING OF THE BLUE-HEADED WAGTAIL 

 IN WILTSHIRE. 



Having seen some Yellow Wagtails {MotaciUa raii) earlier 

 in the year, in a water meadow by the Kennet, near 

 Marlborough, I went again to look for them at the end of 

 last May. In a corner of the meadow close to the river I 

 came upon a pair of birds which at first I took to be 

 Yellow Wagtails, but on closer examination they proved 

 to be the Blue-headed Wagtail {MotaciUa jiava). They 

 were feeding young ones, and became very excited when I 

 aj)proached the nest. I did not, however, discover the 

 nest till June 4th, on which date the young, five in 

 number, were about eight or nine days old. The nest was 

 made of a little moss and dead grass, lined with horse and 

 cow hair, and was placed in a slight hollow among long 

 grass and burdock at the foot of a stem of the latter. 



I was able to put the identity of the old birds beyond all 

 doubt by comparing them through a fieldglass with a pair 

 of Yellow Wagtails in the same field. The male Blue- 

 headed Wagtail had the forehead, crown and nape bluish- 

 grey, a white streak over the eye, and a dark line through 

 the eye, a faint light mark below the eye, and below that 

 again a narrow grey line; the throat white; the back 

 olive-brown ; the tail-coverts not so green as the back ; 

 the central tail-feathers black, the outer ones white ; the 

 flight feathers brown edged with a yellowish colour, and a 

 light bar on the secondaries ; the underparts bright 

 sulphur-yellow ; the beak and legs black. The female was 

 olive on the forehead, crown, nape, cheeks and back, light 

 yellow, almost white, on the throat, a white mark over the 

 eye, and a patch on the cheek, the underparts bright 

 yellow but a little paler than the male, which in other 

 respects she resembled. The young, about a week after 

 leaving the nest, had the forehead, crown, nape and back 

 dull brown, much darker on the side of the head than on 

 the top, a white line over the eye and a dark brown line 

 through it, below this another light line, and below this 

 a dark brown, almost black, line, surrounding the throat, 



