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THE PIED WAGTAIL. 



PIED WAGTAIL. 



THE PIED WAGTAIL (Motacilla Yarrelli), to which Mr. 

 Gould thus refers : ' While engaged upon this tribe of birds 

 during the course of my work on " The Birds of Europe, ' ' I was 

 surprised to find that the sprightly Pied Wagtail, so abundant 

 in our islands at all seasons, could not be referred to any 

 described species, and that it was equally limited in its 

 habitat ; for, besides the British islands, Norway and Swe- 

 den are the only parts of Europe w r hence I have been able 

 to procure examples identical with our bird, whose place in 

 the temperate portions of Europe is occupied by a nearly- 

 allied, but distinct species, the true M. alia of Linnasus ; 

 which, although abundant in France, particularly in the 

 neighbourhood of Calais, has never yet been discovered on 

 the opposite shores of Kent, or in any part of England. 

 As therefore our bird, which has always been considered as 

 identical with the M. alba, proves to be a distinct species, 

 I have named it after my friend W. Yarrell, Esq., as a just 

 tribute to his varied talents as a naturalist.' 



The characters by which these two species may be readily 

 distinguished are as follows : The Pied Wagtail of Eng- 

 land (M. Yarrelli) is somewhat more robust in form, and 

 in its full summer dress has the whole of the head, chest, 

 and back of a full deep jet black; while in the M. alba, 

 at the same period, the throat and head alone are of this 



