PASSEEINE BIRDS OF CEYLON. 171 



MOTACILLA FLAVA BOREALIS. 



The, Gray-headed Wagtail. 



Motacilla borealis (Gates, Vol. II., p. 294 ; Legge, p. 617). 



Description. — Male on arrival in autumn : From forehead 

 to hind-neck slaty-gray ; back, scapulars, and rump dull 

 olive-green ; upper tail coverts dark brown edged with olive- 

 green ; four middle pairs of tail feathers black with narrow 

 yellowish-green edges ; two outer pairs mainlj^ white ; wing 

 coverts and quills blackish-brown with pale margins often 

 tinged with yellowish-green ; lores and cheeks dark brown ; 

 usually an indistinct whitish eyebrow ; lower parts yellow, 

 the sides of the chest brown ; at times the centre of the breast 

 is mottled with white and blackish-brown. 



During the winter the upper parts become worii and 

 browner, and the black bases of the breast feathers become 

 conspicuous. 



In summer plumage, to which some birds change before 

 leaving, the head from forehead to nape is dark bluish-gray ; 

 the upper parts become greener, the pale borders of the wing 

 feathers more yellow ; the lores, cheeks, and ear coverts are 

 black, and the whole lower plumage bright yellow. 



Females in winter resemble males ; in summer both the 

 upper and lower plumage is duller ; the lores, cheeks, and ear 

 coverts are brown, and the black bases of the breast feathers 

 more conspicuous. 



Birds in their first autumn are rather differen; ; the upper 

 parts are grayish-brown, which shades into gray-blue on the 

 rump ; the upper tail coverts are black edged with gray ; the 

 tail and wings as in the adult, but the edges of the wing 

 feathers are white ; there is a broad whitish eyebrow ; lores 

 and ear coverts grayish-brown ; lower parts white, the breast 

 darker and at times mottled with brown. 



Bill, blackish -brown, paler at the base of the lower mandible ; 

 iris brown ; legs and feet dark horn -colour. 



Length about 6*75; wing 3*2; tail 3-1 ; tarsus '9; bill 

 from gape '7 ; hind claw measured straight '40. 



