396 MOTACILLID^. 



IN a paper by Mr. Gould, published in the Magazine of 

 Natural History, in the volume for the year 1837, page 

 459, entitled " Observations on some Species of the Genus 

 Motacilla" the following paragraphs occur : " While en- 

 gaged upon this tribe of birds during the course of my 

 work on the Birds of Europe, I was equally surprised to 

 find that the sprightly and Pied Wagtail, so abundant in 

 our islands at all seasons, could not be referred to any 

 described species ; and that it was equally as limited in 

 its habitat ; for, besides the British islands, Norway and 

 Sweden are the only parts of Europe whence I have been 

 able to procure examples identical with our bird, whose 

 place in the temperate portions of Europe is supplied by 

 a nearly allied, but distinct species, the true M. alia of 

 Linnseus ; which, although abundant in France, particu- 

 larly in the neighbourhood of Calais, has never yet been 

 discovered on the opposite shores of Kent, or in any part 

 of England. As, therefore, our bird, which has always 

 been considered as identical with the M. alba, proves to 

 be a distinct species, I have named it after my friend W. 

 Yarrell, Esq. as a just . tribute to his varied acquirements 

 as a naturalist." 



" The characters by which these two species may be 

 readily distinguished are as follows. The Pied Wagtail 

 of England, M. Yarrellii, is somewhat more robust in 

 form, and, in its full summer dress, has the whole of the 

 head, chest, and back of a full deep jet black ; while in 

 the White Wagtail, M. alba, at the same period, the 

 throat and part of the head alone are of this colour, the 

 back, and the rest of the upper surface, being of a light 

 ash-grey. In winter the two species more nearly assimi- 

 late in their colouring ; and this circumstance has, doubt- 

 less, been the cause of their being hitherto considered as 



