168 



BUDYTES. 



Budytes melanocepliala, Lk-Jd. ; Rupp. Atl F. Ah. pi. 33. f. 



6; Nauru, voqt. t. 374; Hume, 8tr. F. vol. vi. 663; Blf. Fast. Persia, 

 ii. 235; Murray, Hdhk., Zool., ^c, Sind, p. 167. Budytes viridis, Jerd. 

 ii. p. 222, No. 593. Budytes fiava et melanoceplialus, 8ykes. — The 

 Indian Field Wagtail. 



Adult Male in Breeding Plumaqe. — Head, nape, lores, sides of the 

 face and ear-coverts black; back, scapulars, rump and upper tail- 

 coverts yellowish green, the latter lighter, and the feathers edged with 

 yellowish ; chin white or bntFy white ; rest of under surface pure yellow; 

 primaries and secondaries dull brown, lighter and whitish on the 

 margins at the base of their inner webs ; tertiaries dark brown, edged 

 on their outer webs with yellow ; lesser wing-coverts yellowish olive, 

 subterminally dark brown, and tipped yellowish ; median and greater 

 coverts dark brown, tipped yellowish, forming two conspicuous wing 

 bands ; tail black, margined with greenish, the two outermost feathers 

 on each side white, except a broad dark brown margin on their inner 

 webs ; bill and legs dark brown; irides brownish. 



LengtJi. — 6'25 to 6'5 inches, wing 3'1 to 3"25, tail 2"75, bill at front 

 0-43. 



The adult in winter gai'b is olive green above, with a yellowish 

 white supercilium; the chin and throat white, and the rest of the 

 under surface yellow; the wing bands formed by the median and 

 greater coverts are paler, the yellow edgings of the tertiaries broader 

 and purer yellow. The female is like the male, but in some specimens 

 (in December) there is a brown band across the breast. 



Huh. — S. E. Europe, N. E. Africa, and Moluccas; Sind, Punjab, 

 N. W. Provinces, Bengal, Southern and Central India, Deccan, Concan, 

 Kutch, Kattiawar, Jodhpore, Beloochistan and Afghanistan With the 

 last species it is very abundant in the large marshes, and especially on 

 the Munchur Lake in Sind. 



Budytes flava , Lin,.; P. E 674. 2 ; Edw. B. pi. 258 ; Nanm. vngf. 

 t. 88 ; Gould. B. Fur. pi. 146; Blf. Fast. Persia, ii. p. 233 ; Hume, Sir. 

 F. ii. p. 225; vi. 363; vii. 130. Parus lutens, S. G. Gmel. Peise. iii. 

 p. 104, pi. XX. Motacilla flaveola, Pa/Z. Zooyr. Bos. As. i. p. 501. — Tbe 

 Long -CLAWED Yellow Wagtail. 



Mule ill Breeding Plumage. — Forehead, crown, nape, and sides of the 

 face, bluish grey, a dark streak from the base of the bill through the 

 eye, a white supercilium, and another short white stripe below, from 

 under the eye; below tbe bluish grey of the face an albescent streak 

 to the chin, which is white ; throat, breast, and rest of under surface 

 bright yellow ; neck behind, and back yellowish green, tinged brownish ; 

 greater and lesser wing-coverts dusky brown, margined with yellowish 

 white ; primaries, secondaries and tertiaries dusky brown, margined with 

 yellowish white ; tail dark brown, edged with greenish yellow ; the 

 two outermost feathers white, with a dark brown margin on their inner 

 webs, broader on the second, and extending over part of the outer web ; 

 the next narrowly edged with white ; upper tail-coverts like the back. 

 The female has a white supercilium; the head and crown duller, mixed 



