I20 rlue-headf:!) wagtail. 



to Mr. Sharpe's views (Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. x. pp. 516-532). I 

 have only room for the broad statement that in Upper Scandi- 

 navia. Northern Europe and Siberia, migrating as far as the south of 

 Africa and India, there is a form, the male of which has a nearly 

 black crown and no eye-streak, known as M. viridis of Gmelin, or 

 better as M. Iwrealis of Sundevall ; two examples of which are said to 

 have occurred at Penzance. I; .3'the basin of the Mediterranean is 

 found a close ally, M. chtereico 'Ua of Savi, with grey crown but 

 very little eye-streak ; while in South-eastern Europe and Central 

 Asia there is an easily recognizable form with a very black head and 

 no eye-stripe, known as M. feldeggi or M. melajiocephala. When, as 

 in Hungary, this black-headed bird exhibits a narrow white eye-stripe, 

 it is Af. paradoxa ; when, as at Lenkoran on the Caspian, the stripe 

 is pale yellow, the bearer is M. xantJwphrys. 



Breeding commences in the latter half of May ; the nest being 

 placed on the ground among herbage in meadows and corn-fields. 

 It is composed of fine roots, grass and moss, lined with horsehair 

 and a few feathers ; the eggs, 4-6, being yellowish-white, clouded 

 with pale brown, and sometimes scrolled with black at the larger 

 end : average measurements 78 by "56 in. The food consists of 

 insects and their larva; ; and the bird is very partial to small flies, in 

 ])vu-suit of which it may be seen strutting and fluttering within a few 

 inches of the muzzles of grazing cattle or horses. The call-note is 

 a shrill chit-up. 



The adult male in breeding-plumage has the crown and nape 

 bluish-grey ; lores and ear-coverts dark slate-grey; over each eye and 

 ear-covert a white streak ; mantle olive, tinged with yellow ; wing- 

 coverts dark brown, tipped with yellowish-white, forming a double 

 bar; secondaries margined with the same colour; quills dark brown; 

 tail-feathers blackish-brown, except the two outer pairs, which are 

 white with black edges to the inner webs ; chin and a line below the 

 lores white ; throat, breast and tail-coverts bright gamboge-yellow ; 

 bill, legs and feet black. Length 6-25 in. ; wing 3-2 in. The 

 female is rather shorter : the head has a more olive tint, and the 

 yellow of the under parts is less pronounced. In autumn both sexes 

 acquire an olive-brown tinge. The young are greenish -brown above, 

 with a rough V-shaped line of brown spots from the nape to the breast, 

 and the under parts are only pale yellow ; but the white eye-stripe 

 which serves to distinguish typical examples of this species from 

 our Yellow Wagtail is always present. Young males often display 

 in their first spring some dark mottlings on the throat, grey patches 

 on the head, and a considerable amount of yellow on the shoulders. 



