208 BRITISH BIRDS. 
MOTACILLA FLAVA. 
BLUE-HEADED WAGTAIL. 
(Prate 14.) 
Ficedula motacilla verna, Briss. Orn. iii. p. 468 (1760). 
Motacilla flava, Zinn. Syst. Nat. 1. p. 3831 (1766); et auctorum plurimorum— 
Gmelin, Latham, Naumann, Temminck, (Salvadori), (Degland § Gerbe), Newton, 
Dresser, &c. 
Motacilla boarula, Scop. Ann. I. Hist. Nat. p. 154 (1769). 
Parus luteus, S. G. Gmel. Reise, iii. p. 101, pl. 20. fig. 1 (1774). 
Motacilla campestris, Pall. Reise Russ. Reichs, iii. p. 696 (1776). 
Motacilla chrysogastra, Bechst. Naturg. Deutschl. ii. p. 406 (1807). 
Motacilla flavescens, Steph. Shaw's Gen, Zool. x. p. 559 (1817). 
Motacilla bistrigata, Raffles, Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 312 (1821, partim). 
Motacilla flaveola, Pall. Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. i. p. 501 (1826). 
Budytes flavus (Linn.), Brehm, Vog. Deutschi. p. 344 (1881). 
Budytes beema, Sykes, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1832, p. 90. 
Motacilla neglecta, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1832, p. 129. 
Motacilla flava, var. vulgaris, Sundev. Vet. Ak. Handl. 1840, p. 53. 
Budytes gouldi, Macgill. Man. Brit. B. i. p. 163 (1840). 
Budytes schisticeps, 
Budytes dubius, Hodgs. Gray’s Zool. Mise. p. 85 (1844). 
Budytes anthoides, 
The first British ornithologist who appears to have discovered that the 
Yellow Wagtail of our islands was distinct from the ‘‘ Gelbe Bachstelze ” 
of Germany was Gould, who as long ago as 1832 pointed out the difference 
between the two species. Two years later Doubleday shot an example of 
the continental species at Walton-on-the-Naze, and since then it has been 
frequently observed in various parts of the country. 
The Blue-headed Wagtail is chiefly known as an accidental straggler on 
migration to our islands. It is usually found in the southern, south- 
western, and eastern counties of England, generally in the spring or early 
summer. Nests of this species have been found near Gateshead, and 
doubtless it breeds in several other localities. It is a much rarer visitor 
to Scotland, only one or two specimens having been recorded ; and Saxby 
states that it has been observed late in autumn in Shetland. Although 
not known to Thompson, it has been ascertained to occur in Ireland by 
Mr. Blake Knox. It is said to have been twice found on the Faroes. 
The Blue-headed Wagtail, subject to some local variation, has by far 
the largest area of geographical distribution of any species in the genus, 
extending from the British Islands across Europe and Asia at least as far 
as the Rocky Mountains of America. It is common across the Channel, 
and is found in Scandinavia south of lat. 60°, which appears also to be the 
