MOTACILLIDA. 141 
white; the upper part of the breast is mottled with 
brown. 
As this bird appears, from the dates at which 
specimens have been taken, to be resident in Eng- 
land throughout the year, I have been rather par- 
ticular in giving a description of the plumage in 
every period, in order that any of my readers into 
whose hands a specimen may fall may be able to 
identify it and to distinguish it from the Yellow 
Wagtail. A mistake, however, could hardly be 
made, except in the case of young birds, and in all 
states of plumage the species may be distinguished 
by the white streak over the eye, and moreover a 
specimen taken during the winter is sure not to be 
the Yellow Wagtail. The descriptions are partly 
taken from Yarrell and other authors, and partly 
from my own specimens. 
Hewitson says the eggs scarcely differ from those 
of the Yellow Wagtail. 
Ray’s Waerain, Motacilla Rayi. Ray’s Wagtail, 
or the “ Yellow Wagtail,” as itis perhaps more com- 
monly called, is a very beautiful, and not uncommon 
summer visitor. It is said to arrive in this country 
as early as the end of March or beginning of April 
(my own earliest note of the arrival of this bird is 
the 15th of April) and to depart again in September, 
about which time, according to Montagu, large flocks 
collect on the Start and the other southern pro- 
montories of Devonshire. It is less aquatic in its 
