THE GREY WAGTAIL. 



203 



The Grey Wagtail (Motacilla c. cinerea). 

 5 adult, summer. 



Motacilla sidphurea Bechstein, Yarrell, i, p. 552 ; Motacilla melanope 



(non Pallas), Saunders, p. 125. 



Motacilla boarula boarula L., Hand-List B.B., p. 39 (1912). 



Description. — Advlt male. Winter.- — Crown, mantle, scapulars 

 and back slate-grey tinged olive ; rump and upper tail-coverts 

 yellow-green ; lores blackish ; narrow stripe from bill over and 

 behind eye pale buff to white : 

 ear-coverts as crown ; chin and 

 throat pale buff to white (usually 

 buffish-white) ; breast bviffish- 

 yellow ; belly and under tail- 

 coverts brighter yellow ; flanks 

 pale grey ; axillaries pale grey 

 and white ; tail-feathers, three 

 central pairs black Avith outer 

 webs fringed ye How -green, 

 broadly at base, narrowly at 

 tip, three outer pairs mostly 

 white, the outermost quite 

 white and the other two pairs 

 with inner web and tip white 

 and rest of outer web black fringed yellow-green (the penulti- 

 mate pair occasionally has very little black on outer web, the 

 third pair from outside often has a trace of black edging near 

 base of inner web, and third pair from centre is rarely mottled 

 with white) ; primaries black, basal portion of inner web whitish 

 on 5th and white on 6th to 10th ; secondaries same but white 

 at base of both webs and more extensive, showing slightly beyond 

 greater coverts, innermost secondaries fringed on outer webs 

 yellowish- white to white ; greater and median wing-coverts 

 narrowly edged and tipped olivaceous-grey ; lesser coverts 

 olivaceous-grey. This plumage is acquired by complete moult 

 in July-Sept. Summer. — All the body-feathers, usually inner- 

 most secondaries and middle pair of tail-feathers are moulted 

 in Feb. -March, but not usually rest of wings and tail, though 

 rarely whole tail and a good many inner wing-coverts are moulted. 

 New plumage as in winter, with following exceptions : eye-stripe 

 white ; ear-coverts purer grej^ mottled white ; broad malar stripes 

 white ; chin and throat black, feathers tipped white (white tips 

 mostly wear off during summer) ; breast bright yellow like 

 belly. 



Adult female. Winter. — Like adult male but slightly more 

 bufflsh on upper- breast and rather paler yellow on rest of breast 

 and belly. Moult same. Sum.mcr. — Moult same as male. Like 

 adult male except for chin and throat which are never so black 

 and usually a mixture of white, black and dull yellow (sometimes 

 only a few spots of black in malar region), and rest of throat 



