MOTACILLA FLAVA. 349 



yellow wagtail first pointed out by Gould, and first specified by 

 Eay — hence called Ray's wagtail — the Continental and rarer 

 being the true M. Flava, and called the grey-headed yellow 

 wagtail, sometimes the blue-headed quaketail. Macgillivray has 

 made a separate genus of this bird and another, under the name 

 of Budytes, or QuaJcetails — the blue-headed and the green- 

 headed. The so-called blue-headed quaketail — although rare 

 with us, being no other than the yellow wagtail of the 

 Continent — the M. Flava of Linnaeus. So little was it known in 

 Britain as to be called by several authors M. Negleda. There- 

 fore ornithologists should pay particular attention to all our 

 wagtails, as the two species of black and white, and the two 

 grey and yellow are so much alike — yet different in their partial 

 moulting in spring and autumn, as to give excellent ground for 

 observation ; while the wag, wag, of their tail being the same, 

 and so unlike all other birds, makes them an interesting subject 

 of research. This one is the handsomest, for, although a little 

 less, its tail is longer, and gives it a more elegant appearance. 

 The legs and bill are also more slender, and yellowish-brown 

 instead of black, like the others. In winter the head and back 

 are bluish-grey, tinged with green ; rump, greenish-yellow ; 

 throat, greyish-white ; lower parts, bright yellow (hence its 

 name) ; iris, dark brown. In summer the grey of the throat 

 becomes a jet black patch, like the pied, and makes it look a 

 different bird. The female has the black patch tinged with 

 grey, otherwise the same ; a white line is pencilled over the 

 eye ; the female's tinged with yellow. The length of this 

 elegant bird is 8 inches by 10^ in extent of wings ; the tail 

 longer than its body, of twelve narrow, tapering feathers. The 

 hind claw is long, and nearly straight instead of curved, which 

 brings it nearer the next genus Anthus, and distinguishes it 

 from the black and grey. It is interesting to see those 

 handsome birds so nimbly running along the side of a burn, or 

 shooting up into the air like feathered rockets after flies, or 

 gently alighting on a pebble in a shallow stream, wag, wagging 

 their long tails ; poising themselves like an acrobat ; vibrating 

 as if their slender frames were too finely balanced to remain at 

 rest ; then off again — like a money grub in perpetual pursuit 

 of his first law of life — making money ; or killing weaker 

 creatures to sustain themselves. They have no song, but a 

 shrill cheep. 



