548 



PASSE RES. 



MOTACILLTD^E. 



MOTACILLIDJ3. 



MOTACILLA ALBA, Linnaeus*. 

 THE WHITE WAGTAIL. 



Motacilla alba. 



THE belief expressed in 1838, in the first edition of this 

 work, that the White Wagtail would be occasionally found 

 in this country has been verified in many instances, and it 

 may now be regarded as an annual summer-visitor to certain 

 localities. Its first recognized occurrence seems to have 

 been late in the month of May, 1841, when Mr. Bond found 

 two pairs of this bird on the banks of the reservoir at Kings- 

 bury, and shot two males and a female (Ann. and Mag. 

 Nat. Hist. vii. p. 350). In the spring of 1842, a specimen 

 was shot near Carlisle, which passed into the possession of 

 the late Mr. T. C. Heysham, and in April, 1843, three were 

 obtained by Mr. James J. Trathan, near Falmouth (Zool. 

 p. 188). Mr. Rodd now states that in Cornwall this bird is 

 not uncommon in the spring-months, and the information 

 collected by Mr. More shews that there is good reason for 

 believing that it has bred in several parts of England. Thus 



* Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 331 (1766). 



