264 CEBTHIIDJE SALPOENIS 



Description. Adult male in summer. Above, olive-green, the 

 rump olive-yellow ; upper tail-coverts dusky, tinged with olive- 

 yellow, externally white ; lesser wing- coverts brown edged with 

 olive ; middle and greater coverts blackish edged and tipped with 

 olive - yellow ; quills brown edged with yellowish ; tail - feathers 

 brown edged with olive ; the outer pair white with a brown streak 

 on the inner web ; crown, nape, lores, feathers below eyes and ear- 

 coverts black ; cheeks and under surface bright yellow ; axillaries 

 yellow ; under wing-coverts white tinged with yellow and mottled 

 with grey. 



Iris brown ; bill, legs and feet dusky-brown. 



Length 6-75 ; wing 3-25 ; tail 3-00 ; tarsus 0-85 ; culmen 0-50. 



Adult female. Above, brownish-olive; below, very pale yellow. 



Young. Resemble those of M. flava. 



Distribution. Breeds in South-eastern Europe and Central 

 Asia ; winters in Africa and India. A single example is recorded as 

 having been forwarded from the Transvaal by Mr. Ayres. 



Habits. The habits of this Wagtail, as well as its nest and eggs, 

 resemble those of Motacilla flava. 



Family VIII. CERTHIOm 



Bill sometimes nearly straight, but usually curved and more or 

 less long and slender, the edges smooth. Nostrils basal, covered 

 by a membranous scale, but not by bristles or plumes ; rictal 

 bristles absent. Wing with ten primaries of varying length. Tail 

 with twelve rectrices, of varying shape and length. Tarsus rather 

 short, scutellated anteriorly (except in Tichodroma). Feet strong; 

 toes well developed ; claws curved and sharp, especially the hind- 

 claw. Tongue non-tubular. Plumage usually barred or spotted. 

 Sexes alike or nearly so ; the young paler in colour. 



The family contains three genera (excluding Climacteris), and 

 about ten species and subspecies,, which range over Europe, Asia, 

 Africa and North America. 



Genus I. SALPORNIS. 



Type. 



Salpornis, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1847, p. 7 S. spilonotus. 



Bill longer than the head, slender, decurved, compressed 

 laterally; the edges of the mandibles smooth and unnotched. 



