f;3n WHITE WAUTAIL 



FAMILY MOTACILLIDAE. WAGTAILS. 



Bill, shorter than the head, slender, not curved, and notched at the tip Few or no bristles at base of 

 bill. Priuiarics, nine. Win.aja, not very pointed. Tail, at least as long as wing. Members of the present 

 family agree with those of the last in having nine primaries, in the absence of .any very large bristles at the 

 base of the bill, and in two noticeable habits, n.amcly, they walk and do not hop, and move the tail up ami 

 down both when sitting or when in motion. This is a large flimily but is represented mainly by Old WorM 

 species, one of which reaches us as a straggler and two of which are natives. 



GENUS MOTACILLA. WAGTAILS PROPER. 



Gen. Cii. Size, medium. Form, slender. Tail , much larger than the wing. Secondaries, longer 

 ahan the end of the longest, reaching to the tip of the closed wing. Feot, slender. 



MOTACILLA ALBA 



White Wagtail 



DESCRIPTION 

 Sr. Cii. Size, medium. Form, slender. Color. Adult male in sprnig. Ileail, and ujiper breast, 

 black, with a broad mark of white on fjrchead and on ear coverts. Wings, dark brown with the feathers 

 edged and tipped with white. Tail, black, with two outer feathers mostly white. Females, similar, but 

 with the black less extended and in part replaced by grayish. Young, gray above, grayish white beneath. 



OBSERYATIONS. 



Known at once by the black and white colors and slender form. Occurs as a widely distributed sjiecies 

 in Euro]>e and Asia. Occasional in Greenland. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Length, 7.()0 to 7.2.5 ; wing, 3.00 to :i.2.') ; tail, 3.75 to 3.80 ; bill, .-50 to .55 ; tarsus, .!l() to .95. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 

 Nei3TS, placed on the ground, composed of leaves, weed stalks, etc Egos, five and six in number, oval 

 in form, grayish white in color, thickly spotted and dotted with ashy and black. Dimensions, .75 by .-'>'> to 

 ,79 by .59. 



GENUS ANTIIUS. THE TITLARKS. 



Gen. Cii. Marginal indentations of sternum, equal in depth the height of the keel. Coracoiil bones^ 

 shorter than the top of the keel. Keel, higher than one-half the width of the sternum. Hind claw, more 

 than twice the length of the anterior claws. Tail, shorter than the wing. Secondaries greatly eloncated, 

 the longest reaching nearly to the tip of clnscd wings. 



ANTHUS PENSYLVANICUS. 

 Titlark. 



Anthus ludovicianus Licht. Verz., 1823, 37. No. 421. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Si'. Cii. Form, slender. Size, not large. Bill, shorter than the head, slender and acuminate. Wings, 

 long and pointed. Tail, rather long and slightly emarginate. Sternum, not stoutly built. Tongue, thin, 

 horny, very acuminate with the tip bifid and ciliated. 



