PIED, OR YARRELL'S WAGTAIL. 197 



The principal and most quickly caught dis- 

 tinctions between the two birds in question, are 

 the greater breadth in the bill of M. Yarrellii, 

 when seen from above, (as seen in the cut at 

 conclusion of description,) the deep black colour 

 of all the upper parts in the plumage of the 

 summer, and the different form of the black on 

 the throat and breast. In this species, which 

 assumes a gray tint on the back during winter, 

 the tint is nearly the blackish gray of Syme, 

 mixed with a little brown, while, in the Conti- 

 nental bird, it is of a much clearer shade, and 

 resembles closely dark bluish gray of the same 

 nomenclature. 



In the plumage of the male in summer, the 

 upper parts, tail, except the two outer feathers, 

 on each side the throat and breast, are deep 

 black, on the rump there is occasionally a tinge 

 of gray. In winter the black throat is lost, and 

 that colour on the breast is restricted to the form 

 of a crescent ; above, the centre of the back 

 becomes deep blackish gray, and specimens fre- 

 quently occur where the black of the former state 

 continues intermixed. The secondaries, greater 

 and lesser coverts, become more broadly edged 

 with white, and the feathers of the rump obtain 

 narrow edgings of the same hue. 



M. Alba. M. Yarrellii. 



