ANTHUS. 535 



with blackish laterally ; light wing-markings dull buff-yellow ; superciliary stripe, 

 broad malar stripe (widening on side of neck), and lower parts generally, dull 

 light buff-yellow ; chin and throat dull white, bordered along each side by a broad 

 streak of dull blackish, this confluent with a broken crescentic patch of same on 

 chest. Length 5.50-6.80, wing 2.95-3.30, tail 2.65-3.10. Nest on ground, concealed 

 by projecting tussock or overhanging bank, composed of dry grass, etc., often lined 

 with soft feathers. Eggs 3-7, dull white, brownish white, or pale isabella-color, 

 densely speckled with different shades of light brown. 



a 1 . Top of head and hind-neck lighter, more ashy, gray, the lores and ear-coverts 

 not conspicuously darker ; lower parts purer yellow (often rich gamboge). 



Hab. Europe, etc. 



B. flavus (LiKN.). Yellow Wagtail. 1 



a'. Top of head and hind-neck darker, more plumbeous, gray, the lores and ear- 

 coverts usually conspicuously darker ; lower parts lighter, less pure yellow 

 (varying from citron- to sulphur-yellow), the chest more distinctly blotched 

 with dusky. Eggs .76 X -55. Hab. Alaska (north of the peninsula), eastern 

 Siberia, and Kamts'chatka, wintering in eastern China and the Moluccas. 



696. B. flavus leucostriatus (Hon.). Siberian Yellow Wagtail. 



GENUS ANTHUS BECHSTEIN. (Page 532, pi. CXIX., figs. 3, 4.) 



Species. 



COMMON CHARACTERS. Above brownish, more or less distinctly streaked with 

 darker (nearly uniform grayish in summer plumage of A. pensilvanicus'), the wings 

 with lighter edgings, and two more or less distinct light bands across tips of coverts ; 

 beneath paler (usually dull buffy rarely whitish), the chest, and sometimes sides 

 also, usually more or less distinctly streaked with darker ; outer tail-feathers with 

 more or less of white. Nest on ground, bulky and rather compact, composed of 

 dried mosses, grasses, etc., lined with hair, feathers, etc. Eggs with a pale ground- 

 color, but this usually overlaid by so dense a speckling or mottling of brown as to 

 give a nearly uniform brown surface. 



a 1 . Tarsus longer than hind-toe, with claw ; inner web of outer tail-feather chiefly 

 dusky. Eggs pale olive, olive-whitish, or pale chocolate-brown, thickly 

 freckled with brown (sometimes nearly uniform chocolate-brown). (Sub- 

 genus Anthus.) 



b 1 . Back, scapulars, and top of head plain brownish gray or brownish, or with 

 very indistinct darker streaks. 



Adult in summer : Above brownish gray or grayish brown, the feathers 

 of top of head and back showing more or less distinct darker cen- 

 tres, most obvious on back ; wings and tail dusky, with light brown- 

 ish gray edgings, the middle and greater coverts tipped with same ; 

 superciliary stripe and lower parts light cinnamon-buff, paler on 



1 Motacilla flava LINN., S. N. ed. 10, i. 1758, 185. Budytes flava Cuv., Rig. An. 1817, 371. 



