Malayan Ornithology. 517 



near Gibraltar, Eggs I saw there were white^ covered with 

 small red specks ; but they vary very much, if I remember 

 rightly, some being of a uniform blue colour. 



" During July I found a nest among the bushes on the 

 waste land bordering the rifle-range at Tanglin; it was a 

 substantial domed structure, built almost on the ground, at 

 the bottom of a tuft of reeds, with many of the stalks regu- 

 larly woven into it. Though very well hidden, I found it by 

 carefully watching the bird, which got very excited whenever I 

 approached, and so considerably helped me in finding its nest, 

 which, however, was then empty, and afterwards deserted, 

 probably because I slightly moved it when feeling for the 

 eggs." 



BuDYTES FLAvus (Liun.). 



I own to being much puzzled by the Wagtails, their plu- 

 mage varying so much according to age, sex, and the time 

 of year. 



In September 1877 I shot a Wagtail at Singapore, which 

 I put down as of this species {B. flavus). It was a female, 

 head and upper parts brown, tinged with yellowish green, 

 wings dusky, outer edges of the coverts and secondaries 

 greenish white, superciliaries white, beneath yellow, dusky on 

 the breast and sides of neck. Then, again, during October 

 and November 1879, thousands of Wagtails assembled every 

 morning at daybreak on our gravel parade-ground, an open, 

 elevated space, and a very favourite resting-place for passing 

 birds ; and these were most certainly migrating ; so tired 

 were they that they would hardly get out of one^s way, much 

 less be induced to fly any distance ; besides they appeared 

 only during October and November, generally in company 

 with Plover, Pratincoles, and other migrants. 



All these I thought to be B. flavus, till Mr. Davison told 

 me they were B. taivanus. During November they were ex- 

 ceedingly plentiful in the paddy-swamps near Mount Echo, 

 Singapore, and fed in such close company with the Sand- 

 pipers [Totanus glai'eola), that I obtained both birds at one 

 shot. 



SER. IV. VOL. V. 2 N 



