98 



THE BIRDS OF ESSEX. 



At Epping and at Sudbury Edward Doubleday and W. D. King respect- 

 ively record it (15 & 20) as "a winter visitant." Henry Doubleday writes to 

 T. C. Heysham in 1831 (10), " The Grey Wagtail is very rare here, and I never 

 could get one in summer plumage." Mr. Buxton says (47. 89) it is " not 

 uncommon along the Roding in winter." Round Orsett, it is uncommon, being 

 only occasionally seen, and never breeding (Sackett). It occurs in both the Col- 

 chester and Paglesham districts (Laver). Mr. Joseph Clarke tells me of one shot 

 on Oct. 2nd, 1878, at The Roos, where it is rare. At Dedham, on Oct. 29th, 

 1887, Mr. Stanley Edwards shot a young bird which he had observed for several 

 weeks feeding on the lawn in front of his house. Mr. Fitch has seen it at ;\Ialdon. 



Blue-headed Yellow Wagtail : Motacilla flava. 



A rare straggler to Britain from the Continent. It has been most 



often met with in the eastern, southern, and south-western counties. 



-^_--_ ^ The first specimen recognised 



in Britain was shot by Henry 



Doubleday at Walton-on-the- 



Naze on Oct. 3rd, 1834, while 



the third (?) British specimen 



was met with about two years 



later on the border of Essex. 



It certainly occurs oftener 



than is commonly supposed, 



but is overlooked on account 



of its general resemblance to 



BLUE-HEADED WAGTAIL, ]A,. thc commoucr spccics. 



Henry Doubleday, writing to Heysham on Dec. 29th, 1834, says (10) : 



" On the 3rd of October, walking with two friends on the top of the cliffs at 

 Walton-on-the-Naze, I had the pleasure of seeing two individuals of the Grey- 

 headed Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla neglecta of Gould), one of which (a male) I 

 fortunately shot, thus proving that this bird occasionally at least, visits this 

 country. Although, being in its autumnal plumage, the marks are not so well 

 defined as in spring, yet there can be no doubt of the species. The whole under- 

 parts are pure yellow, except the chin ; this and the eye-streak are pure white. 

 The head and back of the neck are light bluish-grey, tinged with brown at the 

 tips of the feathers. * * * The back, clear olive-green. When I came to London 

 1 took it to Bruton Street [where the museum of the Zoological Society then was] 

 and there 1 met with Bennett, Gould, and Yarrell, all of whom at once pro- 

 nounced it neglecta.'" 



Doubleday briefly recorded his specimen in Loudon's Magazine of Natural 

 History (12. viii. 617). At his sale in 1871, with five other birds, it fetched 34s. 

 (? purchaser). Mr. J. D. Hoy records (12. ix. 352) that on May 2nd, 1836, he 

 shot a specimen following a plough in company with several of the pied species 

 in the parish of Stoke Nayland, which, though lying actually in Suffolk, adjoins 

 Essex. Mr, Pettitt has preserved for Dr. Laver a very fine pair netted in com- 

 pany with several of the common }'ellow species at Fingringhoe in Ma}', 1889. 

 The specimen figured by Yarrell was taken near Finsbury in April, 1837, and 

 was lent for the purpose by Mr, Joseph Clarke. 



