MOTACILLID.E. 141 



white ; the upper part of the breast is mottled with 

 brown. 



As this bird appears, from the dates at which 

 specimens have been taken, to be resident in Eng- 

 land throughout the year, I have been rather par- 

 ticular in giving a description of the plumage in 

 every period, in order that any of my readers into 

 whose hands a specimen may fall may be able to 

 identify it and to distinguish it from the Yellow 

 Wagtail. A mistake, however, could hardly be 

 made, except in the case of young birds, and in all 

 states of plumage the species may be distinguished 

 by the white streak over the eye, and moreover a 

 specimen taken during the winter is sure not to be 

 the Yellow Wagtail. The descriptions are partly 

 taken from Yarrell and other authors, and partly 

 from my own specimens. 



Hewitson says the eggs scarcely differ from those 

 of the Yellow Wagtail. 



RAY'S WAGTAIL, Motacilla EayL Ray's Wagtail, 

 or the " Yellow Wagtail," as it is perhaps more com- 

 monly called, is a very beautiful, and not uncommon 

 summer visitor. It is said to arrive in this country 

 as early as the end of March or beginning of April 

 (my own earliest note of the arrival of this bird is 

 the 15th of April) and to depart again in September, 

 about which time, according to Montagu, large flocks 

 collect on the Start and the other southern pro- 

 montories of Devonshire. It is less aquatic in its 



