The Grey Wagtail. . 183 



Family— MOTACILLID^. 



The Grey Wagtail. 



MotacUla nielanope, Pall. 



HOWARD SAUNDERS gives the following as the distribution of this 

 species outside Britain :^ — "On the Continent the Grey Wagtail barely 

 reaches the extreme south of Sweden, and is very rare in Northern 

 Germany, while in Russia it is hardly found beyond the latitude of Moscow ; but 

 in the mountainous and even rolling ground of the central and southern parts of 

 Europe it is fairly common ; breeding as far south as the basin of the Mediter- 

 ranean, where it is a resident, as it is also in the Canaries, Madeira, and the 

 Azores. Eastward, it is found in summer across Asia, south of about 67° N. lat., 

 to Persia, Turkestan, the Himalayas, Northern China, and Japan ; wintering in 

 India, Burma, the Indo- Malayan Islands, Palestine, and Northern Africa." 



In Great Britain the Grey Wagtail is resident, breeding chiefly in the 

 mountainous districts, though occasionally in the plains : it is somewhat local in 

 England, Wales, and Ireland, being more frequently seen in the south of England 

 during the winter than the summer months. 



In breeding plumage the male of this exceedingly graceful bird is chiefly 

 slaty-grey above, the head slightly darker; but the rump and upper tail-coverts 

 are greenish-yellow ; the wing coverts brownish-black with pale margins ; flights 

 blackish-brown ; the secondaries margined with buf&sh-white ; the three outermost 

 tail feathers white ; the second and third pairs with a great part of the outer web 

 brownish-black ; the six central feathers brownish-black edged with greenish-yellow ; 

 a narrow arched white superciliary stripe ; a second white stripe from the base of 

 the lower mandible to the neck, bordering a black gorget which covers the throat 

 and breast ; remainder of under surface bright sulphur-yellow ; bill black ; feet 

 brown ; iris dark-brown. The female is slightly smaller than the male, has a 

 shorter tail, duller colouring, and little or no black on the throat. After the 

 autumn moult the black disappears entirely, the throat becoming white and the 

 breast tinted with sandy-buff. Birds of the year are like adults in winter plumage, 



Z2 



