PIED WAGTAIL. 363 



In a paper by Mr. Gould, published in the Magazine of 

 Natural History, in the volume for the year 1837, page 

 459, entitled " Observations on some Species of the Genus 

 Motacilla,'^'' the following paragraphs occur: " While engaged 

 upon this tribe of birds during the course of my work on the 

 Birds of Europe, I was equally surprised to find that the 

 sprightly and Pied Wagtail, so abundant in our islands at all 

 seasons, could not be referred to any described species ; and 

 that it was equally as limited in its habitat ; for, besides the 

 British islands, Norway and Sweden are the only parts of 

 Europe whence I have been able to procure examples iden- 

 tical with our bird, whose place in the temperate portions of 

 Europe is supplied by a nearly allied, but distinct species, 

 the true M. alba of Linnaeus ; which, although abundant in 

 France, particularly in the neighbourhood of Calais, has 

 never yet been discovered on the opposite shores of Kent, or 

 in any part of England. As, therefore, our bird, which has 

 always been considered as identical with the M. alba, proves 

 to be a distinct species, I have named it after my friend 

 W. Yarrell, Esq. as a just tribute to his varied acquirements 

 as a naturalist." 



" The characters by which these two species may be rea- 

 dily distinguished are as follows. The Pied Wagtail of 

 England, M. Yarrelln, is somewhat more robust in form, 

 andj in its full summer dress, has the whole of the head, 

 chest, and back of a full deep jet black ; while in the White 

 Wagtail, M. alba, at the same period, the throat and head 

 alone are of this colour, the back, and the rest of the upper 

 surface, being of a light ash-grey. In winter the two species 

 more nearly assimilate in their colouring ; and this circum- 

 stance has, doubtless, been the cause of their being hitherto 

 considered as identical : the black back of M. Yarrellii, 

 being grey at this season, although never so light as in M. 

 alba. An additional evidence of their being distinct, (but 



