MOTACILLIN^E. MOTACILLA. 161 



Male, 7:f> > Sy 2 ^, y 6 ^, T y, y^, y 3 ^. 



The habits of this species are described as being precisely 

 similar to those of Motacilla Yarrelli. M. Temminck con- 

 siders the one to be merely a race or variety of the other. 

 They differ in nothing but colour. Having procured a great 

 number of specimens of both, and carefully compared them, I 

 can find no other distinction. But this grey-backed bird is 

 of extremely rare occurrence with us ; and perhaps the indi- 

 viduals which I have examined may not belong to it, although 

 they agreed in all respects with specimens from the neighbour- 

 hood of Paris. Although there may be some doubt, I am un- 

 willing to eject the bird from our Fauna. Supposing Linnseus's 

 name of Motacilla alba, and his specific description, to agree 

 with this as well as with the last species, I yet think that as 

 the one has been named after Mr Yarrell, " as a just tribute 

 to his varied talents as a naturalist/' the other may be named 

 after Brisson, of whose talents as an accurate describer of 

 birds nothing requires to be said. 



Motacilla alba, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 331. Motacilla alba, 

 Temm. Man. d'Orn. i. 255. Grey-and- White Wagtail, Mac- 

 Gillivray, Brit. Birds, ii. 221. 



95. MOTACILLA BOARULA. GREY-AND-YELLOW WAGTAIL. 



Male in winter with the head and back bluish-grey, tinged 

 with green, the rump greenish-yellow, the throat greyish- 

 white, the lower parts bright yellow. Female similar, but 

 somewhat paler. Male in summer with a black patch on the 

 c iroat, laterally edged with white bands. Female similar, 

 but paler, and having the black on the throat tinged with grey. 

 Young grey, tinged with green above, greyish- white on the 

 throat, with a faint crescent of dull grey. 



Male, 8, 101, 3 i ri, i > i ^ ^ Female, 7i, 10. 



This species is permanently resident, although in most of 

 the northern districts it disappears in winter. It frequents 

 the margins of streams, pools, and lakes ; and is generally dis- 

 tributed in the lower and more cultivated parts. Its food con- 

 sists of insects, which it usually picks from the ground, al- 

 though it often performs a short aerial excursion in pursuit of 

 them. It generally builds in a rocky place near water, or 

 among stones or grass. The nest is lined with wool, hair, 

 and feathers. The eggs, from five to eight, are nine-twelfths 

 long, seven-twelfths in breadth, greyish- white, spotted all over 

 with faint greyish-brown. 



