Pied Wagtails of Japan. 91 



sent me three males, after comparing them with the skins in 

 the Hakodadi Museum ; and I find that I have four other 

 examples of the same bird in my collection. It seems to be a 

 good species, breeding in the Kurile Islands, the island of 

 South Yesso, and the island of Askold, and wintering on the 

 coast of China from Takow to Amoy ; I propose to call this bird 



-^ MOTACILLA BLAKISTONI, Sp. UOV. 



Forehead, chin, and the sides of the head and neck (except 

 a black line through the eye) v^hite. Throat, breast, hind 

 head, nape, back, lesser wing-coverts, scapulars, innermost 

 secondaries, tips of primaries, upper tail-coverts, and eight 

 centre tail-feathers black. Rest of wings and tail and under- 

 parts white. 



From M, amwensis this species may always be distin- 

 guished by having black instead of grey lesser wing-coverts, 

 and white instead of brown secondaries. ¥rom. M.Japonica 

 its white, instead of black, cheeks and sides of the neck are a 

 sufficient distinction. 



Capt. Blakiston informs me that he has examples of M. 

 amurensis from Kamtschatka ; and Taczanowski also describes 

 this species (under the name of M. kamtschatica, Pall.) as 

 having been obtained by Dybowski in Kamtschatka. The 

 synonymy of M. amurensis will therefore be as follows : — 



Motacilla lugens, Pall, fide Kitthtz, Kupf. Nat. Vog. p. 16, 

 pi. 21. fig. 1 (1832, nee Temm. et Schl. 1847). 



Motacilla lugens, Illig. fide Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. i. p. 250 

 (1850, partim) . 



Motacilla alba, var. lugens, Illig. fide Schrenck, Amur- 

 Lande, i. p. 338 (1860). 



Motacilla amurenris, Seebohm, Ibis, 1878, p. 345. 



Motacilla camtschatica, Pall, fide Taczanowski, Bull. Soc. 

 Zool. France, 1882, p. 388. 



In Avinter both M. amurensis and M. blakistoni lose the 

 black on the throat and on the lower breast. M.japonica 

 appears to retain the black all the year round. The example 

 of M. amurensis figured in ' The Ibis," 1878, pi. ix. is the 

 only skin of this species which I have seen that appears to 



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