Order 2. PASSEPJN.E. 181 



The Water-wagtails {Mutacilla, Cuv.) — 

 Have a comparatively short and curved hind claw, and frequent the borders of water. 



That of France (Mot. alba and cinerea, Lin.), is grey above, white below, with tlie occiput, throat, and breast, 

 black. [The throat white in winter. It has not yet been registered as an inhabitant of Rritain. 



The common Britisli Wae^tail {M. Yarrellii, Gould), appears to be of rare occurrence on tlie Continent of Europe. 

 It is somewhat larger, and has a black back in summer. 



Another species, common in the north of Briiain, Aisits the southern counties in winter — the Yellow-rumped 

 Wagtail (3/. io«)-«/a, Lin.) — It is grey above, with a very long tail, the outer feathers of which are white; under 

 parts and rump bright citron-yellow, with a black throat in summer]. 



Another in the south of Europe resembles the common French Wagtail when young, but acquires a black back 

 with age, the M. lugubris, Roux. [It is larger than any of the others.] 



The Field-Wagtails {Bitdt/tex, Cuv.) — , 



With the general characters of the preceding, possess a long and almost straight hind-claw, which 

 approximates them to the Pipits. [The tail is shorter, and style of colouring different.] They fre- 

 quent pastures, and pursue insects among the cattle, [as do also the others]. 



The most common is the Grey-headed Field-Wagtail (3Iof. flava, Lin.).— Bluish ash-colour on the head, olive on 

 the back, bright yellow below, with an eye-streak and two-thirds of the lateral tail-feathers white. [It is very rare 

 in Britain, where it is replaced by another species, 



The M. neglecta, Gould, the head of which is yellow-olive, very bright in old males after the vernal moult, and 

 the eye-streak intense yellow. It is much more Seldom seen in watery situations than the preceding, and is rare 

 on the Continent. The females of both are pale, or even dull white underneath, and the males in winter plumage 

 have a reddish tinge on the lower parts, the young males not acquiring the yellow colour before the sprmg. 

 Neither of them has any song, in which they differ from the Water-wagtails. 



The Pipits {Anthus, Bechstein) — 

 Were long classed with the Larks on account of their long hind-claw, [and the resemblance of the 

 colours, although not the texture, of their plumage], but their more slender and notched bill approxi- 

 mates them to the other Bee-fins.* [They have absolutely the same form as the Field-wagtails, from 

 which they differ only in their colours, and their habit of singing on the wing.] 



Such as have a moderately curved hind-claw retain the faculty of perching. [The others do so, 

 only rather less habitually.] 



Tlie Tree Pipit (A. arboreus, Bechst.) — Streaked olive-brown above, paler underneath, with longitudinal dark 

 spots on the breast ; two pale transversal bands on each wing. [A migratory species, and very sweet songster, of 

 common occurrence in Britain. It generally rises singing from the ground, andafter attaining a certain height, sails 

 descending to the summit of a tree ; then rises from the tree, and descends singing to the ground. Its carriage, 

 and general character, as seen alive, are very different from those of the others.} 



Others have the long hind-claw of tlie Larks, and keep more on the ground; As 



The Common Pipit (.-f/^Kda pra/e/im, Gm.)— [More slender than the preceding, and nearly of the same colour 

 in winter, but less fulvous or olivaceous in summer. It is extremely common throughout Europe, inhabiting 

 mountain moors, and lowland heaths and marshes, even to the sea-side. Frequently ascends singing into the 

 air, but less musically than the preceding. 



The Shore Pipit {Anfh. aquaticus, Naum) is larger and darker-coloured, with a proportionally greater bill. Tliia 

 species abounds on the sea-coast, and is very rarely met with inland. Is a superior songster to the last. 



Tlie Great Pipit (A. Richardi, Vieillot). — An accidental straggler only in this country, but seldom met with. Is 

 much lai-ger than the others, and coloured like A. pratensis. Tliere are several more, of which three inhabit 

 Europe. 



The Wagtails and Pipits compose a very insulated and distinct group, all the members of which are ambulatory 

 in their mode of progression, and moult twice in the year. The young resemble or differ little from the adults, 

 having a very dissimilar nestling dress from that of the Larks, to which they have been very generally, but erro- 

 neously, approximated]. 



We terminate this family of the Dentirosires with some birds which differ from all the 

 foregoing, by having their two external toes connected as far as the second joint, a character 

 wherein they resemble the family of Syndactyli. 



The Manakins {Pipra, Lin.) — 

 Have a compressed bill, higher than broad, emarginated, with great nasal fossae. Their tail and limbs 



• The author enooeously states, in the original, that the form of the wing dialing ulshcs them from the Wagtails. — Ed 



