MOTACILLIDJ3 MOTACILLA 253 



coverts unmotfcled ; wing-coverts and quills pale brown edged with 

 white; outer pair of tail-feathers white with an oblique streak of 

 brown on the inner web ; other tail-feathers dark brown, the central 

 pair edged and tipped with white ; crown like the back ; lores, eye- 

 brow and cheeks white ; ear-coverts pale brown ; below, white 

 tinged with buff-brown ; the chest marked with triangular black 

 spots ; axillaries and under wing-coverts huffish. 



Length 6-40; wing 3-30 ; tail 2-40; tarsus I'OO; culmen 0-55. 



Distribution. Northern Damara Land and Angola. 



Habits. This Pipit, which can only be looked upon as a pale 

 race of Anthus rufulus, doubtless resembles the latter in habits. 



Genus III. MOTACILLA. 



Type. 

 Motacilla, Linnceus Syst. Nat. i, p. 328 (1766) M. alba. 



Bill and nostrils as in Anthus. Wing moderately long (rather 

 pointed in migratory, rounded in resident species), with only nine 

 clearly visible primaries, the first being nearly obsolete, the second, 

 third and fourth nearly equal and longest, the fifth shorter ; the 

 inner secondaries very long, as long, or nearly as long as the 

 primaries. Tail of twelve feathers, long and nearly even, about as 

 long as the wing. Tarsus rather long and slender, about twice as 

 long as the middle toe without its claw ; toes moderate, the middle 

 joined to the outer at its base ; hind claw short and curved or. long 

 and nearly straight ; front claws short and curved. Plumage of 

 plain colours, destitute of spots and streaks ; a distinct summer and 

 winter dress ; sexes nearly alike ; the young closely resembling the 

 adults or not very different. Two moults in the year, one complete, 

 one partial. 



The Wagtails, some twenty-seven species and subspecies, range 

 over the greater part of Europe, Asia and Africa, one species 

 occasionally reaching Alaska. Seven species occur in South Africa, 

 three being resident, four annual migrants from Europe. 



Wagtails spend much of their time on the ground searching for 

 their food which consists almost entirely of insects. They run 

 with rapidity, have an undulating flight, and have gained their 

 trivial name from their habit of constantly vibrating their tails up 

 and down. They fall naturally into two groups, the Pied Wagtails, 

 with the wing longer than the tail and a hooked hind claw, of which 

 three species are resident in South Africa, and the Yellow Wagtails, 



