108 WHICH IS WHICH? 



that it had been neglected by Continental authors, but 

 subsequent enquiry convinced him that it was the Yellow 

 Wagtail of Linnaeus and others ; it was then considered 

 that justice should be done to Kay's original notice of our 

 common yellow species by calling this bird by his name. 

 Hence its appearance in some systematic arrangements as 

 M. Rayi, which name has been also applied to the YELLOW 

 WAGTAIL, called by Macgillivray THE GREEN-HEADED 

 QUAKETAIL. Indeed, among naturalists there seems such a 

 confusion worse confounded with regard to the few birds 

 known to us of this family group, that it is difficult to 

 make out exactly how many species there really are, and 

 which is which. Pompey and Csesar appear to be so < bery 

 much alike,' and to have changed names so often, that 

 whether this is Pompey and that Caesar, or vice versa, we 

 really cannot tell, and the difficulty is much increased by 

 there being five or six of these birds dodging about, and 

 taking each other's names and places. Our artist seems to 

 have followed Yarrell in his illustration pretty closely, and 

 he tells us that the Grey-headed Wagtail, here represented, 

 is with us a very rare bird, although common on the Conti- 

 nent, while THE YELLOW or RAY'S WAGTAIL (M. flava or 

 Budytes Rayi) is plentiful here, but rare as a Continental 

 bird. This is the story of the Grey and Pied Wagtails 

 over again, and it is a little singular that such should be 

 the case in one restricted feathered family ; but we must set 

 it down as illustrating, in a very striking manner, the 

 great theory of compensation, which seems to be one of the 

 laws of creation. 



Well, but the YELLOW WAGTAIL ! here he is, as brisk 

 and lively as you please, with his olive brown suit, lined 

 with bright orange, and faced with white, as pretty a bird 

 as one need wish to see. 



In so far as I have observed, [says Macgillivray, describing his 

 Green-headed Quaketail, but which is, no doubt, this bird under an- 

 other name,] there is nothing in the habits of this species differing 

 from those of the Wagtails properly so-called, excepting its being 

 more addicted to hunting for insects in plants. For some time after 

 its arrival in the end of spring (this is but a summer visitant) it 

 keeps in the pastures and ploughed fields, where it runs about with 



