RAY'S WAGTAIL. 445 



other Wagtails, and consists of two notes repeated in suc- 

 cession, the second of which, in the musical scale, is one 

 whole tone lower than the first. This species is numerous, 

 and generally diffused during summer from the southern 

 coast of England as far north as Durham and Northum- 

 berland; where, according to Mr. Selby, they collect in 

 small flocks after the breeding-season, and move southwards 

 towards the end of August. Montagu observed flocks 

 of these birds in Devonshire in the autumn of 1802, 3, 4, 

 and 5, and every succeeding year they were observed 

 sooner or later in the southern promontories of Devon. 

 According to Dr. Edward Moore, similar assemblages of 

 these birds take place every year at the present time ; and 

 Mr. Blyth mentions having " noticed a small flock of 

 them, early one morning in September, upon the sands in 

 the isle of Jersey, which had apparently not long alight- 

 ed from a journey across the Channel, and had probably 

 taken their departure from some part of the West of Eng- 

 land." 



The geographical range of this species, as far as at pre- 

 sent known, is very limited ; it appears to be a rare sum- 

 mer visitor even to Ireland, according to Mr. Thompson ; 

 and M. Temminck states that he has certainly never seen 

 it on the continent of Europe in any locality between the 

 Baltic and the Mediterranean. 



I am indebted to my friend Mr. Henry Doubleday of 

 Epping, for the finest specimen of this bird I ever saw, 

 an adult male in brilliant summer plumage. The beak is 

 black ; the irides hazel ; the top of the head, the lore, ear- 

 coverts, nape of the neck, scapulars, and back, very pale 

 olive, rather darkest on the back ; over the eye and ear- 

 coverts a streak of brilliant gamboge yellow ; wing-coverts 

 and quill-feathers dusky brown, the former tipped, the 

 tertials edged and tipped, with yellowish white; upper 



