90 MOTACILLIDEH, WAGTAILS.—GEN. 27, 28. 
subfamilies are generally recognized, though the distinctions are scarcely more than 
generic. 
Subfamily MOTACILLINA. True Wagtails. 
Represented in America by a single species; in the Old World by nearly fifty 
species or varieties, chiefly belonging to the genus Motacilla and its subdivisions 
or immediate allies, of which Budytes is one. In Motacilla itself, the hind claw is 
of about the ordinary length and curvature; in Budytes, the hind claw is longer 
and nearly straight, and the tail is about as long as the 
wing, the point of which is formed by only three quills. 
27. Genus BUDYTES Cuvier. 
Yellow Wagtail. Greenish-olive, below yellow; 
crown and nape ashy, superciliary line white, wings 
and tail blackish, white-edged. Length 6; wing 
Fic. 33. Yellow Wagtail; . 
natural size. and tail about 8. Alaska; a well known, widely 
spread and extremely variable Old World species, unknown in America 
until the recent discovery by Dr. Bannister that it is abundant at St. 
Michael’s. Datu and Bann., Trans. Chicago Acad., 1869, 277, pl. 30, 
| ey ey aa oll a see Cerra en NS art Oc Co ig: INGA. 
Subfamily ANTHINE. Titlarks. 
Consisting of the single genus Anthus, of which, however, there are several sub- 
divisions. In typical Anthus, the wing is longer than the tail, and its point is 
formed by the four outer primaries, the 5th being abruptly shorter; the hind claw 
is nearly straight, and nearly or quite equals its digit in length. Here belong our 
species ; in certain South American forms even five primaries enter into the tip of 
the wing ; in several European subgenera only three primaries are abruptly longer 
than the succeeding ones. Our Anthus is strictly congeneric with the European 
A. spinoletta, type of the genus: Neocorys only differs in having the feet larger 
and tail shorter. About fifty species (among them six or eight Central and South 
American ones) are ascribed to Anthince, of which half may prove genuine. They 
are terrestrial and more or less gregarious birds, migratory and insectivorous. 
28. Genus ANTHUS Bechstein. 
Brown Lark. Titlark. Wagtail. Pipit. Dark brown with a slight 
olive shade, and most of the feathers with dusky centres, giving a slightly 
streaked appearance ; eyelids, superciliary line and all the 
under parts pale buffy or ochrey brown (very variable in 
shade), the breast and sides of the neck and body thickly 
streaked with dusky ; wings and tail blackish, inner sec- 
ondaries pale-edged, and one or more outer tail feathers 
wholly or partly white; 64-63, wing 34-34, tail 23-3. 
North America, everywhere; an abundant and well 
known bird of fields and plains. In the United States, 
seen chiefly in flocks, in the fall and winter: breeds in - 
J : 5 2 Fic. 34. Brown Lark; 
high latitudes, and in the Rocky Mountains, above the natural size. 
timber line, as far south as Park county, Colorado (Allen) ; lays 4-6 very 
dark colored eggs in a mossy nest on the ground; voice querulous, gait 
