TOO ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



Budytes rayi, Macg., Br. B., ii., p. 212 (18^9). 



Motatilla rayi, Newt. ed. Yarr., i., p. 564 (1874). 



MotadUa rait, Dresser, B. Eur., iii., p. 277, pi. 131 (1875); 

 B. O. U. List. Br. B., p. 31 (1883); Seeb.,*Br. B., ii., 

 p. 212 (1884); Lilford, Col. Fig. Br. B., pt. vi. (1888); 

 Saunders, Man., p. 121 (1889). 



Adult Male in Breeding Plumage. General colour olive-yellow 

 above, and bright yellow below; the under tail-coverts bright 

 yellow like the breast ; head also bright yellow, as well as the 

 eyebrow, the hinder crown like the back. Tot 1 ,! length, 6-3 

 inches; culmen, 0*5; wing, 3^15 ; tail, 2*7; tarsus, 0*9. 



Adult Female Similar to the male, but not so bright in 

 colour, and having the forehead greenish like the head, instead 

 of being bright yellow as in the male. 



Adults in Winter Plumage Greener than in summer, the fore- 

 head like the rest of the upper parts : a broad yellow eyebrow, 

 ear-coverts greenish; under-surface of body yellow, with a 

 slight tinge of saffron on the breast. 



Young Birds. Olive-brown above, more yellow on the lower 

 back and upper tail-coverts ; a broad eyebrow of pale fawn- 

 colour ; ear-coverts brown ; chin and cheeks whitish ; throat 

 and chest pale fawn-colour, with dusky spots on the latter ; 

 lower flanks, abdomen, thighs, and under tail-coverts, bright 

 yellow. 



Kange in Great Britain, A summer visitor only, breeding in 

 most parts of England and the south of Scotland, as well as 

 near Lough Neagh and the neighbourhood of Dublin in Ire- 

 land. It is not known to breed west of Somersetshire, and 

 occurs only on migration in our south-western counties. In 

 spring and autumn it is a very common migrant on the lands 

 near the coast. 



Range outside the British Islands. The Yellow Wagtail is 

 chiefly a western bird, nesting in the north of France, but 

 elsewhere only known as a migrant on its way to or from its 

 winter horn * in Western Africa. Specimens have been sent 

 from the Za nbesi and the Transvaal, but these may be 

 migrants from Turkestan or Southern Russia, where the Yellow 

 Wagtail is also found, and it is most probable that the line of 



