MOTACILLA VIDUA. 269 



Motacilla alba (nee Linn.) Bohm. J. f. 0. 1885, p. 45. 



Adult Male. Entirely black and white. Above as well as the sides of 

 the head and neck black, with the following parts white : — a broad eyebrow 

 from the nostrils to above the ear-coverts, a patch on the side of the crop, 

 most of the outer webs of the greater series of wing-coverts, basal portion 

 of the quills with the exception of the outer one, outer margins of the 

 secondaries, and the two outer pairs of tail-feathers with the exception of 

 portion of inner margins. Beneath white, with a broad black crop belt ; 

 flanks faintly mottled with grey ; thighs slightly mottled with black ; under 

 wing-coverts and basal half of the inner webs of the quills white, with the 

 remainder blackish brown ; bill and legs black ; iris dark brown. Total 

 length 7-6 inches, culmen 0-65, wing 3'7, tail 3-8, tarsus 1-05. Umgeni 

 Biver,<? 2. 6. 41 (Wahlberg). 



Adult (winter plumage). Similar to the adult male above described, 

 but with the back blackish grey shading into black on the forehead and 

 upper tail-coverts. 



The African Pied "Wagtail ranges over Africa generally, 

 south from Liberia and Assouan on the Nile, and also inhabits 

 St. Thomas Island and southern Palestine. This species 

 appears to be common and generally distributed along the 

 water-courses throughout its wide range, except in the Upper 

 White Nile district from Victoria Nyanza to the Gazal river 

 and Shoa, from which countries alone it has not yet been 

 recorded. 



In Liberia, Mr. Biittikofer found the species plentiful on 

 the sandbanks and rocks, specially frequenting the rapids and 

 falls which occur along the rivers, and Mr. Hartert mentions 

 it as apparently common along the banks of the Benue 

 tributary of the Niger. 



Dr. Hartlaub in 1857 referred to M. lugubris a specimen of 

 this species in the Hamburg Museum obtained by Weiss on 

 St. Thomas Island. Mr. Monteiro calls these Wagtails 

 common along the Quanza river and on the marshy plains of 

 Cambambe. In Benguela, according to Anchieta, it is gene- 

 rally distributed throughout the country, and is called by the 



